


I will find you, underneath a blood moon

by puppybusby



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Asshole Stiles Stilinski, Canon-Typical Violence, Curses, F/F, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Elements, Mild Sexual Content, Minor Character Death, POV Lydia Martin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 16:44:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 64,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3657771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppybusby/pseuds/puppybusby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You see, the legend goes like this;<br/>Those who walk the woods become part of the hunt, wolves with eyes of gold, sapphire and ruby. They prey on those who wander, who let their curiosity get the better of them.<br/>It was mostly told to keep kids from wandering off from their parents during walks or picnics and then when more and more people kept disappearing the stories changed to scare kids away from the forest altogether</p><p>(Or; The time Lydia stumbled upon a mystery, secrets and a lost hunter)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this got a LOT bigger than I originally intended... And It took a different turn...  
> Thank you to the incredible artist Britney who inspired this fic and to the wonderful Kayla for putting up with me and being the best Beta a girl could ask for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Be careful," said the hunter, "there are wolves out here."

 

 

"Have you heard?" Danny asked as soon as Lydia opened the door.  
  
"I- no, what? Hi, by the way, nice to see you too." Lydia waved a hand and stepped to the side to let the boy in.

"Hey," he replied, stepping in and heading to the living room, making himself at home on her sofa. "Do you remember Isaac Lahey?"

Lydia frowned, the name sounded vaguely familiar, like she should know who it is but the fact remains that she just can't put a face to the name. Danny clearly picked up on this and threw her a bone.

"He sat at the back in chemistry, next to Erica Reyes."

Now Erica she remembered. And if she thought hard enough about the blonde and her boyfriend, Boyd she thinks she can remember a third figure at their side.

"Okay I think I know who you're talking about, what about him?"

"He's missing."

Oh. Now _that_ changes things.

"In the forest?" Lydia asked, she needn't ask really, she could tell from the look on his face that she was right.

"Yeah..."

"Probably just ran away." Lydia shrugged. "They'll find him in a few weeks begging for scraps in San Diego."

"Just like Boyd and Erica then, right?" Danny asked.

Lydia smiled. "Exactly."

Danny sighed, giving Lydia a knowing look. “When will you admit that there is something in the forest?”  
  
Lydia grabbed her bag. “The day magic comes back to Beacon Hills.” She walked past Danny and out of the front door to where her car was parked. She could feel Danny's disapproving stare on the back of her head the entire walk to the car.

 

“Have you heard?”  
  
“The whole school is talking about it.”  
  
“Idiot deserved it.”

Lydia heard the whisperings of the other students all day. It was inevitable of course, kid goes missing, of course it's going to be heavily talked about.  
What Lydia couldn't stand was how they all blamed the forest. Werewolves and hunters and magic, it was all ridiculous.  
Magic had left this town over twenty years ago. Nobody could access their powers.  
And _werewolves?_  
Ridiculous.  
There was no reason to be within the forest. There were no wolves in the town. What was the point? A town without magic was no place to live. People remained hopeful though, that one day it would return. The most many people Lydia knew could hope for was to get out of this town and play catch up with the rest of the world.

 

“Jackson he was on the team with us how do you not remember him?”  
  
Jackson scowled at Danny. “Was he any good?”  
  
“I mean... He was okay? But that's beside the point-”  
  
“Wait, was he friends with McCall and Stilinski?”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
“Oh... Okay I know who he is now.” Jackson nodded slowly.  
  
“Jesus...” Danny sighed. "They say he went into the forest."

Lydia scoffed at that. "You don't actually believe that do you?" She asked.

"Isaac is the third person from school to disappear in four months, you know the legends Lydia." Danny shot back.

"That's what they are, Danny. Legends. Something our parents tell us when we're kids to stop us wandering off on our own."

"Hey Jackson," Danny nudged the boy. "Do you believe in the legend?"  
  
“Mysterious forest supposedly inhabited by wolves?” Jackson smirked. “Good as a kids story, not so much for real life.”  
  
“Never thought I'd see the day where I agree with Jackson Whittemore.” Lydia mumbled.  
  
“You _dated_ me.”

“And I deeply regret it.”  
  
Jackson glared at her and bit into his sandwich. “It does work though.”  
  
“What does?” Danny asked.  
  
“The story. Aside from the occasional drunk and idiot whose heard the story, nobody goes in. I sure as hell wouldn't.”  
  
“Are you serious?” Lydia asked. “You don't believe the legend but you won't go into the forest?”  
  
“I don't see you running off to go exploring.”  
  
Lydia narrowed her eyes. “Fine.” She began. “I'll go into the forest. I'll take some pictures.”  
  
“You wouldn't” Jackson challenged.  
  
“Twenty dollars says I will.”  
  
“You're on, Martin.”  
  
“Lydia, Jackson. Please...” Danny mumbled.  
  
Lydia held out her hand and Jackson took it, shaking it firmly. Danny sighed heavily beside her.

   
  


Lydia buttoned up her coat and fixed her hat in place, it was the same deep shade of red as her coat and slipped on her dark leather gloves and gave herself a once over in the mirror.

Just because she was going into the forest didn't mean she couldn't look good doing it. She checked her cellphone as she walked down from her room, pausing to glance at her mother in the living room. The woman didn't even look up and Lydia didn't bother to say goodbye before she walked out.  
  
  


The walk was peaceful enough, she knows that she wouldn't see anybody, especially with the news that Isaac has gone missing. She does wonder for a moment if there will be an investigation, if the cops will dare to venture into the trees or if they'll just write it off as another mountain lion related death.

She passed a torn poster of Erica Reyes and knows it'll only be a few days before Isaac's name is forgotten, another casualty to the 'legend' of the forest.

Lydia reached the edge of the forest and stared at the trees for several moments, realising that it was hard to make out anything beyond a few feet.

She was beginning to rethink her choice in footwear.

Still, she made a bet and legend be damned, she was going to go inside that forest.  
  


You see, the legend goes like this;

Those who walk the woods become part of the hunt, wolves with eyes of gold, sapphire and ruby. They prey on those who wander, who let their curiosity get the better of them.

From what Lydia remembered, It was mostly told to keep kids from wandering off from their parents during walks or picnics and then when more and more people kept disappearing the stories changed to scare kids away from the forest altogether.  
 

But the thing is, Lydia isn't a kid and legends are just that. Legends.

Steeling herself, Lydia braced her shoulders and stepped through the trees.

  
  
Lydia had quickly realised that their were no paths, no way for her to know where she was or which way she was going. Every tree looked the same, pressed tightly together and blocking most of the light.

Lydia didn't think it was possible for a place so full of life to sound so dead.

A snapping sound behind her had Lydia spinning on her heel.

"Hello?" She called.

She heard nothing but the sounds of leaves brushing against one another. Lydia pulled her phone from the pocket of her coat, gritting her teeth in frustration at the lack of reception.

There was no other way to describe it.

She was lost.

There was another snapping sound nearby and okay there may not be any wolves in California but mountain lions were a definite possibility. But she figured if it were a lion she'd be dead twice over by now.  
Which meant that somebody was following her and part of Lydia was convinced that It was Jackson, coming along just to scare her like the asshole he was.  
Lydia turned to the direction she's sure she came from and began to walk faster, she wouldn't run. She refused to run. Jackson would never let her live it down if she resorted to running.

There was a flash of a shadow to her left and okay, screw this she was going to run. She will never admit it to anybody that she's running but it's like the trees are alive and they're looming over her and all she can hear is the red hot sound of her blood pounding in her ears.  
A figure dropped down from the trees, startling a cry from Lydia as her foot caught on a root and Lydia barely had the semblance to throw her hands out to catch herself, hissing as her knees scrape as they hit the ground. Lydia was motionless for a moment as she tried to gather her bearings.

"What's a girl like you doing running around in place like this?" A voice asked, it was light, curious and if Lydia was right (and let's face it, she generally is) the voice was amused.

Lydia still wished she had brought pepper spray though.

She twisted, ankle pressing uncomfortably against the solid root to look at the source of the voice. To her surprise it was a girl, only looking maybe a year or two older than herself. She was leaning comfortably against a tree, shadows obscuring part of her face, hair hidden underneath a dark beanie. She was wearing a long dark green coat, one hand resting lazily in her pocket. There's a smile tugging at her lips but Lydia is more focused on the intensity of the girls dark eyes.

"Hey Red," the girl called again, cocking her head to the side and watching Lydia carefully. "Did you hit your head or something? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." Lydia replied curtly, wiping a streak of dirt from her gloves.

"You're lost." She dead panned.

"And what gave you that idea?" Lydia asked. The girl laughed again and stepped forward, and it's only then Lydia spots the bow in her other hand, the brief glimmer of arrows resting in a quiver on her back. A hunter of some kind then. The hunter caught her staring at the weapon and slid it onto her back with ease. She stepped into a ray of light that had found its way through the gaps in the trees and Lydia swears the girls eyes flicker gold.

"I was just out for a walk." Lydia added after a few moments.

"Be careful," said the hunter, "there are wolves out here."

She offered her hand to Lydia who took it reluctantly and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. As soon as she was upright Lydia snatched her hand away, taking a step back.

“This isn't some fairytale. There haven't been wolves here for years.” Lydia replied, crossing her arms.  
  
The hunter made a thoughtful sound, head tipping back to look to the sky. “Twenty years, correct?” she asked. “When the magic was blocked?”  
  
Lydia frowned. “Blocked? That's an interesting choice of words.”

The huntress shrugged. “Didn't your mother ever teach you not to go wandering alone in the forest?”  
  
“She did. She also taught me to never speak to strangers but I don't seem to be paying much attention to that either.”  
  
“Maybe you should leave then.”  
  
Lydia pursed her lips. “Maybe I should.”

Lydia turned on her heel and began to walk away, minding her footing as she picks her way through the trees. She can feel the hunters eyes on her back until she takes a turn and disappears from the girls sight.  
Trust Lydia's luck to encounter a girl who carries a bow through trees. Still, there were worse types of people to encounter.

 

Several minutes passed and Lydia feels as though she may actually be considerably more lost than she initially thought.

And she's starting to get cold.

 

"You know you're going the wrong way, right?" The hunter asked, voice breaking the silence.

"Jesus!" Lydia exclaimed, spinning to look at the girl who stopped walking behind her. "When did you show up?"

"I never left." The hunter shrugged.

"You've been following me this entire time?"

"In a way. You're lost in my forest and there are wolves. So unless your intention is to find them I figured I better make sure you're okay."

“How noble of you.” Lydia huffed and continued to walk. The hunter took a few strides to walk beside her. “So, is there a reason as to why you're wandering in the forest? I've never seen you before.”  
  
“Are you sure of that?” She asked.  
  
“Yours is a face I wouldn't forget.”  
  
The huntress grinned, teeth bright and dark eyes shining. “Oh?”  
  
“Don't get any ideas.” Lydia warned.  
  
“Wouldn't dream of it.”  
  
Lydia stopped in her tracks and looked around their surroundings. “So. How long have you been here, hunter?”  
  
“A while.”  
  
“Do you live in the town?”  
  
The hunter grinned. “No.”  
  
“Then where?”  
  
Lydia watched the girl look around, adjusting the beanie on her head. She gestured vaguely to her right. “About five hundred yards in that direction and then... East for two hundred.”  
  
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “You live _in_ the forest?”  
  
“Not by choice.” her gaze dropped to the ground for a moment, hands slipping into her pockets. She cleared her throat after a moment and met Lydia's gaze once more. “Anyway, Red. Don't you have somewhere you need to be? Dinner at grandma's or something?”  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Why do you call me that?" she asked, planting her hands on her hips and staring at the hunter, who stared at her for what felt like forever before she finally spoke.

"Call me crazy... But it might have something to do with the red coat, red hat and you know... The red hair."

"It's strawberry blonde..." Lydia replied. Okay so it was red but she didn't want to give the girl the satisfaction of being right. The huntress already looked too pleased with herself at how obviously she had gotten under Lydia's skin.

"Whatever you say, Red."

"Lydia."

"What?"

"My name, it's Lydia."

"That's nice..." The hunter replied. "Well then Red, I think it's time we got you out of here, don't you?" She glances around the trees and focuses her attention to her left. "Shall we?"

"I don't think I got your name." Lydia commented, following the hunter. Her gaze trained on the bow across the girls back.

"That's because I didn't tell you." She hesitated for a moment. “My name is Allison.”  
“Well then Allison, girl who lives in the forest. Why?”

The hunter laughed, taking a turn and skimming a hand over the bark of a tree and Lydia was suddenly aware of how thin the trees were getting, it felt lighter, less suffocating and the hunter stopped suddenly, arms crossing her chest and propping herself against a tree, studying Lydia with bright eyes.

“Why what?”  
  
“Why do you live in the forest? You said you have no choice.”  
  
“I have a feeling that you wouldn't believe me If I tried to explain.” Allison replied. She turned to her left, Lydia followed and they walked in silence for several minutes. Allison seemed to take her time, no doubt for Lydia's benefit. Lydia had the strong feeling that Allison knew the forest like the back of her hand, that she could find her way around blindfolded should she need to.  
  
“Humour me.” Lydia broke the silence between them. Allison faltered in her steps and looked over to her. Allison stared at her for a long moment, eyes dark. Something registers in her expression and she nods, turning away and walking once more.  
  
“Do you know why the magic is gone from this town?”  
  
“Nobody does.” Lydia replied. “Twenty years ago.”  
  
“October 19th. 1994.” Allison nodded.  
  
“You certainly know your dates.” Lydia noted. “But yeah. My mother said it happened overnight, magic users just... Couldn't call up their magic. It was like it was just never there.”  
  
“Could your mother use magic?” Allison asked.  
  
“No, no. Neither could my father. But my grandmother could. God, the stories she would tell.” Lydia smiled fondly. Her smile faded after a moment when she realised Allison was still staring at her. “What does that have to do with anything?”  
  
Allison looked ahead. “We're here.”  
  
Lydia followed her gaze and stopped, realising they had reached the tree line.  
  
“Go home Red. Don't come back here.”  
  
“Why should I?”  
  
Allison leant against a tree and studied her carefully. “Like I said before. There are wolves here.”  
  
Lydia stepped through the trees reluctantly, realising after a moment that she was more or less in the exact same point that she had entered.

“Okay, fine.” Lydia turned back to Alison. “But I do have one question.”  
  
“Shoot.”  
  
“Isaac Lahey, you know him?”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“Apparently he wandered into your forest. He's all anybody seems to be talking about.”  
  
Allison expression seemed to close off. Her lips pursed and she nodded once. “I know of him. Why?”  
  
“Weren't you supposed to be protecting him.”  
  
“Maybe he didn't want to be protected.” Allison replied stiffly.  
  
“So he did go in there?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“And you let these apparent wolves get him?”  
  
Allison stepped away from the tree. “He chose to go to them. It's a very different situation.” She turned away from Lydia and began to walk slowly back into the forest. “Have a good life, Red.” she called over her shoulder.

Lydia grumbled to herself as she watched the girl walk away.

 

It was only once she got home and checked her messages that she realised that she never took her photo as proof of being inside the forest.  
Jackson was going to have a field day.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You want to know what happened? October 1994 was a long month. Check the archives.”

Two days passed before Lydia found herself returning to the woods. She had thought over everything Allison had said. She didn't believe that there were werewolves in the forest, if there were then why hadn't they come to the town? Why weren't there attacks? Why hide?  
She was convinced that Allison knew something about what had happened to the town and it's magic too, and well, when there was something Lydia wanted to know, she made it her personal goal to find out.

  
  
She had been walking for almost ten minutes and was already ridiculously lost, having entered from a different point she had no bearing as to where she was.  
She suddenly realised she had no way of knowing where Allison was or even if the girl would be able to find her. Then again, Allison was supposedly saw herself as some kind of protector to the forest so it was fairly safe to assume that if Allison wanted to find her, then she would.

“Pretty sure I told you to stay out of the forest, Red.”  
  
Lydia startled and turned to her right, Allison was leaning sideways against a tree, now wearing a plain white T-shirt and dark jeans that judging by the tears in the knees had seen much better days.  
  
“Did you?” Lydia feigned confusion. “I don't remember.”  
  
Allison raised an eyebrow and bit into the deep red apple she had been holding. "So, what are you doing here, Red?" she reached into a small satchel by her feet and pulled another apple from it and threw it in Lydia's direction, smiling when Lydia caught it.

Lydia turned the apple over in her hand “I actually wanted to ask you a question."

“Oh?”  
  
“I think you know more about the magic of this town than you're letting on.”  
  
“Is that so?”  
  
“And I want to know what you know.”

Allison didn't reply. She took another large bite of her apple and reached down to grab her bag with the other, Lydia caught sight of a knife strapped to her thigh.  
Allison really didn't fuck around.  
  
“Can we walk and talk? I don't want you here right now.” Allison gestured to where Lydia had come from.  
  
Lydia scoffed under her breath and followed Allison. “If you didn't want me around all you had to do was say.”  
  
“There's a mountain lion wandering around. I need to go and track it down before It gets down to the town.” Allison explained.  
  
“Is that wise?” Lydia asked.  
  
“I'm a hunter. It's what I do, besides it's not the first one I’ve killed.”  
  
“Seriously?”  
  
Allison looked over her shoulder at Lydia and smiled. “I've been here for a long time Red, I've killed plenty of mountain lions and a few wolves to boot.” She threw her apple core and shoved her hands into her pockets. “So what did you want to know?”  
  
“What do you know about the magic of this town?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison made a thoughtful sound and turned to face Lydia, walking backwards carefully.  
  
“Do they teach you about magic in school?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
“Then you know how magic users work.”  
  
Lydia nodded. “The magic travels through the Earth, magic users draw the energy from the Earth and channel it through their bodies.”  
  
“Right. So, why would that just stop? And why only in one spot?”  
  
Lydia frowned as Allison turned around and continued to walk. “That's what I’m asking you.”  
  
“I know, but I want you to think about it. What conceivable reason could you think of that would result in an entire town being cut off from using magic?” Allison slowed so that they could walk side by side.  
  
Lydia's brow furrowed. Allison gave her a knowing look. “So what is it? What took the magic away?”  
  
“The magic never left, Red.” Allison replied.  
  
“Then what....” Lydia trailed off, narrowing her eyes at Allison's expression. “No. _No._ You can't be suggesting what I think you are.”  
  
A small smile tugged at the corners of Allison's lips.  
  
“Oh my god, you are aren't you?” Lydia asked. “A _curse?_ ”  
  
Allison nodded. “A curse.”  
  
“That's ridiculous!” Lydia exclaimed. Allison stopped and tilted her head to the side, confusion evident on her features. “Who would put a curse on the town?”  
  
Allison ducked her head, hair obscuring her face for a moment. “Not on the town. Not intentionally.” she sighed. Allison lifted a hand and stopped suddenly. “Here we are.”  
  
Lydia looked the tree line and hesitantly stepped through it and turned back to Allison. “What do you mean, not intentionally?”

“Somebody would have noticed if the town was intentionally cursed, right?”  
  
“Exactly. That's why it can't be a curse.”  
  
“But what if it was a side effect? The town wasn't the intended target but you all got caught in the repercussions.”  
  
“I think you're high.”  
  
Allison sighed, pushing a hand through her hair. “Haven't you wandered why I've never followed you over the tree line?” Allison asked. “Well-” She stopped suddenly, head whipping around behind her, shoulders tensing. Lydia froze as she heard a distinct _howl_ tear through the air around them, followed by something distinctly more feline.  
  
“Gotta go, Red.” Allison said suddenly. Eyes wide.  
  
“Allison, wait.” Lydia surged forward to grab her wrist. “What were you going to say?”  
  
Allison pulled her arm free. “You want to know what happened? October 1994 was a long month. Check the archives.” Allison turned and began to jog back into the forest.  
  
“That's it?” Lydia yelled to the retreating figure. “What else?”

Allison turned slightly. “The Argent family. Look them up!”  
  
Lydia watched the huntress disappear from view and nodded slowly to herself.  
Looks like she needed to make a trip to the library.

  


Lydia leant back in her seat, careful not to knock the stack of books balanced to her right. After pestering the librarian Lydia had gotten her hands on the newspaper archives. Twenty years worth of headlines was a hell of a lot to go through but when she finally reached October 1994, Lydia can't believe that she hadn't made the connection sooner.  
The Hale fire, of course. How could she have missed that? It was such a huge part in the towns history. The only bodies that had been found of the entire family had been Talia and Laura Hale. The rest had just... Gone. The first known victims to go missing within the forest.  
She took note of it, there was an obvious connection between the Hale's and whatever had happened to the towns magic.  
The fire had happened on the 15th of October, Peter Hale, brother of Talia had been the last one be seen and that had been three days later. Nobody had seen or heard from him since.  
Lydia placed the articles into her bag and looked at the books she had gathered, books on curses, there was nothing to suggest that there was a curse on the town, not from what she had read but she had no reason to doubt Allison.  
Lydia frowned as she thought of the girl, the girl who was probably stalking a fucking mountain lion right now.  
  
  
Lydia sat at her laptop and pulled up Google, it was the most obvious place to start after all and began to search. She already knew the obvious part about the Argent family, it being French for silver.  
But as Lydia began to dig she finally found notes on the family Allison had mentioned. An old French family, a _hunter_ family. Lydia only knew of a handful of hunter familes and none of which had such an in depth history as the Argent's. There was information of them dating back years.  
After a while Lydia had to sit back and pass a hand over her eyes, stifling a yawn and glancing at the clock, realising it was past two in the morning and she hadn't eaten or taken a break since she had gotten home when the library had closed.  
Lydia yawned again and scrolled through the links, hovering her cursor over one she hadn't clicked on yet.  
It was an old website, it looked like something created in the late 90's, full of cheap formatting and terrible animations. Lydia rubbed at her eyes and blinked to adjust them to the bright light of the screen.  
  
“A family tree?” she muttered to herself. She followed the tree, down several branches, Adeline and her husband Christopher. Their son and two daughters, Gerard, Madeline and Sofie.  
  
There was a blurry image over Gerard's name, a disturbed looking man. She followed the branch down to his two children, Christopher (clearly named after Gerard's father) and Kate. Lydia realised that neither of these had a date of death underneath their name and that they too, had pictures. Kate had no spouse or children. She looked to Chris and the branch connecting him to his wife, Victoria and gasped.  
_Allison Argent. 1977-  
_ The image was blurry, clearly blown up from a group photograph but there was no doubt about it, the dark curls, sharp jawline and dark eyes.

It was Allison.  
Born in 1977?  
Lydia did the math and her confusion only grew stronger. Allison looked no older than seventeen or eighteen. If this website was telling the truth, Allison, _her_ Allison would be thirty seven. In which case _damn_ she looked good for her age.  
  
There was nothing more she could dig up, she couldn't find anything more about the family, where they were now or if they were even still alive. Just because they didn't have a date of death didn't mean they hadn't died, there were many possibilities. It could be as simple as the owner of the website just deciding to never update again.  
Lydia printed the page and added it to her small collection, she definitely had plans to go and find Allison tomorrow after school. Her instincts are screaming at her to go now, but rational thought reminded that the girl was hunting a mountain lion _and_ it was damn near three in the morning.  
It was better to just wait until after school.

   
 

  

“Greenberg heard McCall and Stilinski talking about looking for that guy who went missing.” Jackson said. He leant over to read Lydia's answers and scribbled them down on his own worksheet. “Fucking idiots.” He added.  
  
Lydia looked over to where the two boys were hunched together and whispering in the corner of the classroom.

  
“Really?” Danny asked, “The sheriff hasn't released a statement or anything about looking for him.”  
  
“That's probably why they want to go.” Lydia replied. “The big heroic rescue, they don't consider that maybe Isaac doesn't want to be rescued.” She frowned at her choice of words, realising how much like Allison she sounded.  
  
“Seriously.” Jackson nodded. “The guy went into the forest of his own free will. If he's dead he's...” Jackson stopped suddenly, turning from his work to stare at Lydia. “Why did you say that?” He asked.  
  
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “What?”  
  
“Normally you would have just said something like how he's living on the streets in some town... What changed?”  
  
Lydia scoffed and turned to face the front of the class, sparing the clock a brief glance before she began to pack her belongings away.  
  
“I don't know what you're talking about.”  
  
“No, he's right.” Danny spoke up, ignoring the bell and the way the students around them all got their stuff and began to leave. “You've been acting differently since you made that bet to go into the forest.”  
  
“Which you still owe me money for.” Jackson interrupted.  
  
“You did go in there, didn't you?” Danny asked. “What did you see?”  
  
Lydia stood from her seat, watching as the last of the students trickled out from the room. “If I tell you, you both have to promise to one, not tell another soul and two, not think I'm crazy.”  
  
“Deal.” Danny nodded immediately.  
  
Jackson hesitated for a moment as he slung his bag over his shoulder, a glare from Danny forced him to sigh and reluctantly nod.  
  
“Fine. Whatever.”  
  
“Meet me at the town library? I can't risk people overhearing.”

  


“You're crazy.” Jackson deadpanned.  
  
Lydia snatched the Argent family tree from him and glared. “Two conditions, Whittemore and you fucked up.”  
  
“A curse I can understand... Reluctantly, but okay, lets say it's true. There's a curse on the forest and _somehow_ it's taken the magic from the town. How would it stop your hunter from ageing for the last twenty years?”  
  
“She's not _my_ hunter...” Lydia replied. “And I don't know, last I saw her she was running back into the forest to hunt a mountain lion, I haven't really had a chance to ask.”  
  
“And why would she live in the forest?” Jackson added.  
  
“Well, the Hales are involved.” Danny said, leaning back in his chair enough so that he could look around. “You both know the rumours about them, right?”  
  
Jackson nodded. “Werewolf family. Heard my folks talk about them a few times.”  
  
“Hunter family coming to a town with a werewolf family, the home of said werewolf family is destroyed and neither parties are seen from again and their paths crossing also coincides with the magic leaving the town? Lydia's right. Something just doesn't add up.”  
  
Lydia smiled at Danny, she knew that out of the two he would be the one she could definitely count on.  
  
“I should go see Allison soon, she might be able to give me some answers.”  
  
“Question.” Jackson sat forward slightly. “Why can you move around the forest so easily? If there are wolves there why haven't they gotten you yet?”  
  
“Maybe her hunter is protecting her.” Danny flashed a teasing smile.  
  
“Okay both of you stop with that, she's annoying and cocky.”  
  
“Yeah, because we all know that isn't your type.” Jackson mumbled. Danny grinned in his direction.  
  
Lydia suppressed a groan. “I'm leaving. I want to get there before it gets dark.” She gives them both a serious look. “Will you guys help? I know there's more to this but-”  
  
“You're lacking a skilled hacker and a lawyers son?” Jackson finished her sentence.  
“Yeah, fine. But I’m expecting payment in form of take out.”  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag. “Deal.”  
  
“Don't die out there!” Jackson called after her.  
  


The sun was just beginning to set when Lydia entered the forest. She hadn't realised that they had been talking for so long and she hadn't anticipated being out so late.

It got darker the further into the forest she walked, the twists of the branches looking more sinister and ominous and Lydia found herself needing to use the flash light on her phone just to be able to see where she's going. The white light cast menacing shadows on the trunks of the passing trees and Lydia caught herself on more than one occasion looking around her from fear of catching movement from the corner of her eye.  
  
For a time where everything should be full of life, the forest was eerily quiet. The sound of every footstep seemed to carry and Lydia wished she had just waited until the next day, who was to say that Allison would even be nearby? The forest at night was almost like a whole other being.  
On several occasions, Lydia thought she saw a flash of blue from her side, the feeling of being watched despite the silence around her.  
Lydia stopped walking and swallowed the anxiety she could feel.  
  
“Hunter, if that's you, you better stop trying to sneak up on me!” She called into the trees.  
  
Several tense moments passed before she heard a slight rustling and saw a dark figure drop down beside her. She focused her phone in the direction and watched as Allison brought a hand up to shield her eyes from the bright light.  
  
“Scared of a little light?” Lydia asked.  
  
“It's messing up my vision, I can't protect us from wolves if I can't see.” Allison grit out, turning away from Lydia, bow drawn.

Lydia took a step closer to Allison, eyes glancing around nervously. “Are they close?”

Allison doesn't reply immediately, her body straightening out, shoulders rolling as she forces herself to relax and Lydia directs her light to the ground as she finally turns to face her.

“Not now. They began to back off when I got close enough.” Allison replied, looking over her shoulder briefly.  
  
“They're the Hale's, aren't they?”  
  
Allison gave a fleeting smile. “Been doing your research, Red?” the smile fell. “Not all of them.”

Lydia frowned and Allison shook her head slightly.  
  
“Not here.” She said, reaching forward to press her hand to Lydia's arm and  
encouraging her to walk. “We're an easy target here.”  
  
“If you're going to make me leave, we're going to have a problem.” Lydia took two steps away from Allison. “I didn't come here as it got dark to have you kick me out. I have questions.”  
  
“I wasn't going to make you leave, Red.” Allison sighed. “Follow me”

  


Lydia felt a slight shift when they entered a clearing ten minutes later. She hovered close to a tree as Allison set her bow down and reached into her pack and walked towards what looked like a fire pit.  
  
“How is this place any safer than where we were earlier?” Lydia asked the girl.  
  
“Combination of mountain ash and wolfsbane surround this clearing.” Allison explained, striking her knife against a flint. “It's a protective circle from wolves. They can't cross.” Allison stared at the fire as the sparks began to take and moved back when the flames started to rise. “I have a few of these places. Never know when you're going to be attacked.” Allison rose to her feet and walked over to what looked like a handmade canopy and lifted it. Lydia watched as she pulled some chopped wood from it and set them down near the fire. The flames from the fire cast Allison and the surrounding trees in a soft glow that was nowhere near as intimidating as the white light from her cellphone.  
  
“I can't offer you much beyond an apple, some berries and water.” Allison continued as she sat down, looking much more relaxed. Holding a canteen towards Lydia.  
  
“That's fine, I’m not hungry.” Lydia replied. Walking closer and taking the canteen from Allison and taking a sip.  
  
Allison raised an eyebrow. “You gonna sit down, Red?”  
  
“Maybe later.”  
  
“Scared of some bugs?”  
  
“So you're an Argent.” Lydia stated.  
  
The teasing smile fell from Allison's face, the flickering of the flames danced over her features and put a spark in her eye Lydia couldn't help but stare at.  
  
“I am.”  
  
“Allison Argent.”  
  
Allison nodded and averted her gaze to stare at the fire.  
  
“How old are you?”  
  
“Seventeen.”  
  
“Well then you've been seventeen for a long time.” Lydia replied, finally giving in and sitting down near Allison, feeling the flames warm her skin.  
  
“Don't I know it.” Allison sighed.  
  
“How?” Lydia asked. “How haven't you aged?”  
  
“I don't know.” Allison replied, still not meeting her gaze. “The only changes I've had are scars from twenty years of running through the forest.”  
  
Lydia grimaced. “Twenty years of periods.” She murmured and to her surprise, Allison threw her head back and laughed.  
  
“Which brings me to my next point, I haven't had one, not since before... This.” Allison waved a hand around her. “Whatever they did, it's like it froze me at the point of when the curse was laid down.”  
  
Lydia nodded slowly, that made a little sense. “So the curse...?”  
  
“Intended for me and my family but your town got caught in the middle.”  
  
Lydia hugged her knees to her chest, despite the fire the chill of the night was beginning to set in and she really was not dressed for this.  
  
“Do you know why?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison took a sip from her canteen. “That's a question probably best left for discussion during the day. There's something I need to show you.”  
  
Lydia couldn't help the smile that found it's way onto her face. “Allison Argent. Are you inviting me back into the forest?”  
  
Allison must hear the amusement in her tone because she frowns and it definitely looks like she's glaring at the fire.  
  
“Considering that you insist on showing up here anyway, Red. It'll be a whole lot safer if you come on my terms so that I don't have to race the wolves to find you.”  
  
Lydia hesitated at the sharpness of her voice, had the wolves been trying to get her every time she came? But that also raised the question of how exactly Allison always managed to find her first. Lydia wasn't sure that Allison would answer her even if she were to ask right now and filed the questions away to the ever growing list.  
  
“Okay.” Lydia replied. “I can do that.”  
  
“Just give me a time and I'll meet you at the point you entered from today.” Allison stood and began to kick dirt at the fire and poured water over it until she was satisfied that the fire was out. She offered a hand to Lydia and pulled her up, Lydia felt herself linger until Allison pulled away to retrieve her bow. She glanced at Lydia and hesitated before shrugging off her jacket and offered it towards her.  
  
“It's not as nice as anything you wear, but it's comfortable and you look cold.”  
  
Lydia stared at the jacket and for a moment considered turning down the girls offer.  
  
“Come on Red, I won't tell anyone.” Allison teased.  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes and took the jacket from her, the insides were wool and warmed by Allison and it took all of her self restraint not to melt into it.  
Still, Allison smirked and pulled an arrow from the quiver at her waist, taking a moment to notch it into the string.  
  
“Let's get you home, Red.”  
  


“What's it like?” Lydia asked as they walked side by side. Allison was walking slowly beside her, arrow drawn and ready to fire at a moments notice.  
  
“What's what like?” Allison replied. Eyes not leaving the path ahead, Lydia had to give credit to the girls night vision.  
  
“Living in the forest.” Lydia clarified. “It's beautiful in the day, but at night...” She trailed off and glanced around, even with Allison by her side and ready to kill, she doesn't feel one hundred percent safe.  
  
“Lonely.” Allison replied simply. Her voice sounding a little distant.  
  
“Your parents-”  
  
“Dead.” Allison paused and cocked her head to the side, listening for a moment.  
  
“Aunt Kate died the day after the fire and my parents died the night the curse was enacted.”  
  
Lydia frowned. “The fire-”  
  
“Tomorrow.” Allison cut her off. “I promise, okay?”  
  
“Fine.” Lydia relented. Allison nodded and they began to walk once more. “You say it's lonely... So why not leave? Why not stop this game of cat and mouse with the wolves and join society?”  
  
Allison laughed but didn't reply as they continued to walk, Lydia chose not to press and instead stuck close to Allison, mimicking her walking as close as she could as to avoid another unfortunate incident of tripping over.  
  
  
  
She knew they had reached the edge of the forest the moment Allison placed her arrow back into her quiver and lowered her bow. She leant against the tree and stared at Lydia, the shadows completely obscuring the left side of her face.  
  
“I'll be waiting here tomorrow.” She said.  
  
Lydia nodded, reluctantly taking off the jacket and handing it back to Allison. Allison looked like she was going to protest but Lydia quickly cut her off.  
  
“My car is parked a couple minutes away. I'll be fine, thank you.”  
  
Allison pursed her lips and took the jacket, nodding slowly.  
  
“I'll see you tomorrow then.” Lydia offered a small smile.  
  
“Yeah, tomorrow.”  
  
“Goodnight Allison.”  
  
“Night Red.” Allison replied. Lydia rolled her eyes and walked through the trees.  
  
“Hey!” Allison called after her. Lydia turned and watched as Allison stepped up to the tree line. “Want to know why I don't leave?” she asked. She didn't wait for a reply and instead brought her hand up to the space between them and moved it forward a few inches.

Lydia startled as a painful crack echoed in the space, a splintering of purple light exploded from the point where Allison's hand met what looked like a barrier. She could clearly see Allison's pained expression from the light as she pulled her hand away, shaking it slightly.  
  
“It is a curse after all...” She shrugged, gaze not meeting Lydia's

“They trapped you in there.” Lydia gasped, unable to hide her shock.  
  
Allison smiled, looking up at her, expression sad. “Goodnight, Red. Drive safe, yeah?”  
  
Allison had disappeared back into the darkness before Lydia could even find the words to respond.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Red, you're the first friend I’ve ever had.”  
> “You're my first real friend too.”

  
“Wait, seriously?” Danny asked, eyes wide.  
  
Lydia nodded. “Yep.”  
  
“She gave you her jacket?”  
  
“Yea- wait, no not that part-”

“She's totally into her.” Jackson mumbled.

Lydia wanted to stab him with her fork.

“Can you both focus on something that isn't my love life for more than five minutes?” She hissed, leaning forward in her seat. “I'm trying to tell you about the very specific barrier based curse I saw last night and you're more preoccupied with the question of whether or not Allison likes me or not?”

Danny looked slightly intimidated by Lydia's words, sitting up while Jackson just raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“We're not wondering if she has a crush on you. We're wondering if _you_ have a crush on her.”

“Can you both at least try and pretend to care about the fact that there's a girl who's literally trapped inside the forest because of a curse?” Lydia snapped.  
  
Danny's expression sobered immediately. “We do care Lydia, it's just hard to picture.”  
  
“Seriously,” Jackson nodded. “It's easier to focus on the lighter side of it.”  
  
“So she wants you to meet her there after school?” Danny asked.  
  
“She wants to show me something, it's important to the curse.”  
  
“But what's the end game here, Lydia?” Jackson frowned. “You break the curse and bring magic back and you're the hero?”  
  
Lydia pushed her finished lunch to one side and held Jackson's gaze. “I wouldn't say hero, but if I can end the curse then I will.”  
  
And if it meant that Allison is free then so be it.  
  
“What do you think she's been doing about underwear for the past twenty years?” Jackson asked suddenly.  
  
“You really ask the real questions.” Danny replied, a strange fondness to his tone.  
  
  
  
Allison is sat with her back resting against a tree when Lydia approaches, she's clutching what looks to be a chunk of wood in one hand and a knife in the other as she carefully whittles at it.  
Lydia considers announcing her presence when she gets within a few feet but Allison lowers her knife and turns her head towards her.  
  
“You took your time.”  
  
“Traffic.” Lydia answered simply. Stepping through the trees and staring expectantly at Allison. Allison tucks the wooden block against the trunk of the tree and stands, slipping her knife away.  
  
Without saying a word, Allison begins to walk and Lydia follows her instinctively at this point, allowing Allison to lead her deeper into the unknown and Lydia is aware that it's dangerous, she knows next to nothing about this girl but there's something about her, something in the way she looks at Lydia that just makes her want to trust in the hunter. It's not like Allison has given her reason not too, after all.  
  
“What happened with the mountain lion?” Lydia asked after a few minutes.  
  
“Dead. I shot it not far from where we met.” Allison replied. She glanced back at Lydia and she could see the brief hesitation in the girls eyes. “How was school?”  
  
Lydia made a face before she could stop herself and it was unmistakable how Allison's expression closed off slightly.  
  
“It was fine. Though it is hard to focus when you discover that your town has been cursed for twenty years.” She smiles. “Any my friend Jackson pointed out something interesting about your situation.”  
  
“Jackson?” Allison says the name sharply. “Boyfriend?”  
  
Lydia laughed. “Ex. He's dating my best friend, Danny.”  
  
Allison nods slowly. “And you?”

“Very much single.” Lydia replied.  
  
Allison stops suddenly and Lydia has to sidestep to avoid her. Allison turns to her and frowns. “You told them about me?”  
  
“They're helping me. Danny is good with computers and Jackson is rich.”  
  
Confusion crosses Allison's features but she nods and they begin to walk again.  
  
“What did he say? About my situation.”  
  
“He wondered what you've been doing for underwear for the past twenty years.”  
  
“It's... Probably best not to think about such things. For my dignity.”  
  
“You have dignity?” Lydia asked, teasing.  
  
Allison raised an eyebrow. “Remember where you are Red. I could leave you here and you'd be lost.”  
  
“You wouldn't though. You wouldn't leave me.”  
  
Allison ducked her head and gave a gentle nod, pausing at a tree to glance to the sky. “You're right, I wouldn't.”  
  
They walk in silence after that, Lydia can tell their moving at an angle, walking down a slope and it isn't long before they've reached a lake, the water clear and shining.  
  
“Do you live near here?” Lydia asks. Pausing to just marvel at the sight before her. Allison strides past her and grabs a stone, skimming it across the water.  
  
“I do. In a tree house in that direction.” She gestures to her right. “How did you guess?”  
  
“Close to a water supply.” Lydia shrugged.  
  
“Clever girl.” Allison began to walk to their left. “But we're not going to my home.”  
  
“How did you learn to build a tree house?” Lydia asked.  
  
“You can do anything in twenty years if you have the resources.” Allison looked back over her shoulder. “Why are you asking so many questions?”  
  
“Maybe I want to know more about the girl I’ve been spending time with wandering through a forest.”

 

“We came here to kill the Hales.” Allison said after a long silence, voice quiet. “That's what we do, they hadn't done anything wrong, they were peaceful. Their alpha was peaceful but that didn't matter. Mom said they had to go. She was in charge and as far as she and my aunt were concerned all wolves were murderers and they all had to die.”  
  
Lydia frowned at the sudden dark turn their conversation had gone and reached out to grab Allison's wrist. The girl turned sharply and pulled her hand free.  
  
“Why are you telling me this?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Because you need to know. You want to know about me, this is what I am. I'm from a family of ignorant werewolf hunters. You want to know what happened to make people put a curse on my family and by extension, the town? I'm telling you.” Allison replied. "October was a long fucking month, Red.” She added with a sigh, turning away from Lydia and running a hand through her hair.  
  
Lydia took a step towards Allison and placed her hand on her shoulder in what she hoped was comforting.  
  
“Tell me about it.” Lydia requested.  
  
Allison looked at her, gaze hard and jaw tense. Her eyes moved over Lydia's face, conflict was clear on her expression. After a tense few moments, her shoulders relaxed slightly.  
  
“Kate, my aunt. She... She slept with one of the Hale's, got into the house. She burnt the house down. It was so fucking cowardly.” Allison pulled forward and Lydia followed. “She didn't even tell us she was going to do it. She just did and then we had to spend the next day running through the forest.” Allison sighed quietly. “My aunt died the day after the fire. The new alpha tore out her throat while I watched.”  
  
Lydia remembered the list of dates in her mind, the fire had been on the 15th so that meant...  
  
“She died on your birthday.”  
  
Allison nodded stiffly. “Yeah. Everybody was too busy trying not to die to notice though.” Lydia heard her swallow thickly. “Dad got injured, mom was determined to fight and kill them all...”  
  
“Allison, you don't have to-”  
  
“You need to know.” Allison cut her off. “The hunters became the hunted and we tried to get out of the forest, to get backup but they just kept cutting us off. We killed a couple. One tore my dad apart and the alpha bit my mom.” Allison's fists clenched by her side and the pair of them stopped by a large tree that Allison leant against. “She killed herself before she became one of them. Would rather leave me alone to fight than be a wolf.” Allison's lips curl and Lydia can't tell who the girl is mad at, the wolves, or her mother. After a few moments, Allison raised her head and met Lydia's gaze. “For the record, had I been able to, I wouldn't have let the fire happen. I don't believe that all wolves are evil but I had no power. I was just a soldier.”  
  
“I believe you.” Lydia replied immediately and it seemed to soothe something in Allison. She nodded slowly, expression unreadable.  
  
“We're here.” Allison said, looking towards a clearing. “Are you ready?”  
  
“Ready for what?”  
  
“To see what I think caused the curse to go wrong.”  
  
Lydia felt her eyes widen and Allison pushed away from the tree, gesturing for Lydia to follow.

  
  
Lydia wasn't sure what she expected to see in the clearing but it certainly wasn't this. A tree stump, huge and old, it's roots spread out around the space, thick and heavy. Lydia stayed where she was, feeling an unpleasant chill pass through her along with the feeling that she shouldn't, that _they_ shouldn't be there. She felt like she was invading on something.  
  
“This doesn't feel right.” Lydia said quietly. Allison was stood a few feet away, close to the stump and definitely didn't expect for the girl to hear her.  
  
“What makes you say that?” Allison asked, turning back to her.  
  
Lydia shook her head, the feeling wasn't passing and it felt like something was coiling around her, suffocating her.  
  
“It's like... There's something here.” She watched Allison's face, hoping something in her expression would give some information. “It's the tree isn't it?”

“I have been exploring this forest for twenty years. I can walk around here in the dark and not get lost and you know what I found out?” She asked, Lydia shook her head. “The roots from this tree stump run throughout the forest, I’ve followed their paths and I’m also fairly certain that they run into the town.”  
  
“What are you saying?”  
  
Allison's lips pursed as she stared at the stump. “Do you remember when we talked about magic? How magic users draw it from the Earth?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
Allison didn't reply, she just looked pointedly from Lydia to the stump, it only took Lydia a moment to connect the dots and she immediately felt like an idiot for not realising it sooner.  
  
“The magic runs through this tree stump.” Lydia said, she saw the corners of Allison's lips  
curl up. “The curse cut stopped the magic flowing to the town and that's why we can't use it.” She frowned. “But that doesn't explain why you're trapped here, why you haven't aged.”  
  
“This tree is literally the source of magic for your town and several miles around it. It doesn't matter how powerful a druid you are, casting a curse on a location like this is bound to have ramifications, aftershocks.” Allison replied.  
  
“So the curse failed, the intention wasn't to trap you for eternity but the magic of the tree messed with it and that's why you're trapped?”  
  
“Me and the wolves.” Allison corrected. “I believe that my family were supposed to be trapped here until we died. The druids who cast the curse didn't account for my family being killed before the curse was complete, nor did they account for the wolves to be trapped here too.”

Lydia walked past her towards the stump, if she listened hard enough she was sure that she could hear the vibrations of energy running through the roots, calling her closer. She didn't think about her hand until Allison's was wrapped around her wrist and it was then Lydia saw that her hand was outstretched and inches away from the centre of the stump. Lydia turned to look quizzically at Allison.  
  
“I had dreams, nightmares... For a long while after I touched it.” There was a brief silence. “I don't know what will happen if you touch it.” The silent 'you could be trapped here too.' didn't go unheard by Lydia.  
  
“Then I guess we're about to find out.” Lydia replied. She tried not to focus on the way Allison's thumb was pressed against her pulse point or the way she could feel her heart hammering in her chest.  
  
Reluctantly, or at least it felt that way, Allison released her grip on Lydia's wrist but stayed close to her side as Lydia moved her hand that last few inches forward and pressed her palm to the wood.  
The effect was instantaneous, the thrum of energy moved through her, taking hold of her. Lydia felt awakened, alive and like a door had opened in her mind as whatever this was took root.

 

She wasn't entirely sure what happened, but the next thing Lydia knew, was that she had fallen back into Allison's arms, the girl was holding onto her tightly, keeping her upright and Lydia suddenly became aware of what was going on and wrenched herself from Allison's hold, turning towards her and freezing, caught off guard by the obvious concern and fear, In her eyes.  
  
“Are you okay?” She asked.  
  
Lydia nodded slowly, putting a few inches of distance between them. “I'm fine.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
“I'm fine, hunter.”  
  
“Fine. Good.” Allison stepped away and it took Lydia a moment longer than she would like to admit to realise Allison was leaving.  
  
“Now what?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Now we find out if you're trapped here too.” Allison replied.  
  
“But the curse... The druids?”  
  
“Right now, Red. My priority is making sure you didn't just curse yourself. If you didn't you should go and rest. You may feel fine now but it'll hit you soon.”  
  
“That's not entirely reassuring.” Lydia muttered.  
  
“No, it's not.”  
  
Lydia frowned at Allison's stiff tone and almost tripped in her attempt to jump over some roots to get closer to the girl and when she finally did she could see lines of worry in her face.  
  
“What's wrong?”  
  
“I'm fine, Red.”  
  
“No you're not.” Lydia stopped and crossed her arms. “I'm not going anywhere until you tell me.”  
  
Allison looks incredulous, mouth dropping open for the briefest of moments before she literally shakes her head. “Are you _serious?_ ” She asks.  
  
Lydia just stares back, making Allison the recipient of the patented Lydia Martin glare.  
  
“Oh my God.” Allison mumbled under her breath, turning away and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Fine! Fine.” She turns back. “I'm supposed to be protecting people from the forest and I was already doing a pretty shitty job because homeless people and hitch-hikers keep getting eaten by the wolves and I keep finding them around here with their throats cut and there have been three kids from your school come here to _join_ the wolves and now you've gone and touched the stupid magic tree so now you might be stuck here too so excuse me if I’m feeling a little stressed right now.” Allison finished, her voice having steadily grown louder as her rant went on and Lydia would be lying if she didn't admit that the girls outburst had caught her entirely off guard. Lydia hadn't expected such an honest response from a girl who seemed to be allergic to referring to her by name.  
  
“You've protected me well though.” Lydia says after a few moments. Allison looks surprised, embarrassed almost and runs a hand through her hair. “I haven't even seen a wolf!” Lydia adds.  
  
Allison's face darkens. “I wish to keep it that way.”  
  
“Can they turn human? Or are they stuck?” Lydia asks, beginning to walk again.  
  
“The alpha can. He does it frequently to taunt me, the rest either can't or don't want to. It might explain why they're so feral and attack anybody who enters.”

“So if the curse breaks, they'll be free to attack the town?”  
  
“Possibly.” Allison replied before frowning. “Why would the curse break?”  
  
“Allison. Why did you think I've been asking so many questions?” Lydia asked. “The town needs its magic back.”  
  
“You think you can break the curse?”  
  
“You think I can't?”  
  
Allison smiled. “I'm believing to think you can do anything, Red.” her steps slow and Lydia immediately knows they've reached the tree line.  
  
Lydia looks ahead. “So if this doesn't work, that barrier will stop me, right?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Will it hurt?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Okay.” Lydia nodded. “Wish me luck.” She took a few steps before she felt Allison's hand around her wrist once more.  
  
“Red, wait.”  
  
“What's wrong?”  
  
Allison let go of Lydia's wrist and reached into her pocket, frowning to herself before pulling her hand free and opening her fist, in the palm of her hand sat a small clear vial, fastened shut with a cork which was attached to a delicate gold chain, there was a purple dust filling the vial.  
  
“What is it?” Lydia asked, taking it from Allison hesitantly.  
  
“Wolfsbane powder. Wolves are- it's poisonous to them... If one comes near you and I’m not here, throw it at them, it should deter them for long enough for you to escape.”  
  
“Allison, it's beautiful but I can't-”  
  
“Please take it.” Allison stepped forward to close Lydia's hand around it. “I don't want you to get hurt.”

There's something in the girls expression that makes Lydia have an epiphany. Allison has been alone for so long, she's mentioned that it's lonely and Lydia now knows that the only active conversation Allison has with somebody else if with the leader of a pack of wolves who want the hunter dead. Lydia is probably the only other source of company Allison has had for so long.  
But if Lydia really thinks about it, she feels a similar way. Her only real friends are Jackson and Danny, one of whom she used to date and the other only became her friend through that connection. Lydia has never met a girl she could click with or talk to and sure, they haven't really had a chance to talk about things other than the forest or magic but Lydia feels a bond with Allison, the opportunity for a deep friendship if they just sat down and Allison didn't have to worry that they would be attacked imminently.  
  
Nodding slowly, Lydia opened her hand and slipped the chain over her neck, feeling the cold glass of the vial press against her chest. Allison seemed to let out a breath and smiled.  
  
“Well, here goes nothing.” Lydia muttered, turning away from Allison and closing her eyes. She took a step, bracing herself and fully expecting to be hit with a wall of pain.  
When nothing happened, she turned to Allison and beamed, only to be met with a wide, relieved smile from Allison. Dimples and all and Lydia was frozen by how beautiful the girl looked it took what felt like a short eternity to remember her words.  
  
“Goodbye, Allison.”  
  
“Stay safe, Red.”  
  


  
True to Allison's word, Lydia had a nightmare that night. She's back in the forest, by the tree stump and the roots come alive, Allison is nowhere to be seen so she runs. Lydia runs until she falls and then she gets back to her feet and runs again but the roots catch her anyway, winding up her ankles and wrists, trapping her, pulling her back. She can hear it all, she can hear the birds, feel the wind between the trees.  
The forest is calling to her and Lydia doesn't know what that means.

  
  
  
It's been raining all day.

Lydia found her attention drifting towards the window multiple times and every single time her thoughts would immediately jump to Allison, her stupid hand would then grab at the vial fastened around her neck.  
  
Even Jackson had noticed, that's how often she had done it over the course of the day. Would Allison be stupid enough to be waiting for her at the tree line in this weather?  
Lydia really didn't want to admit that the answer to that question was probably a yes.

“Thinking about your girlfriend?” Jackson asked after probably the tenth time that period she's caught herself looking out of the window.  
  
“I'm not- she's not- Shut up Jackson.”  
  
“Good talk.” He muttered. He pointed his pen at her chest. “What are you hiding under there?”  
  
“Well Jackson, they're called breasts.”  
  
“Funny.” Jackson replied dryly. “Every time you look out of the window you grab something and I know for a fact you aren't grabbing your breasts.”  
  
Lydia sighed and reached into her shirt to pull out the necklace. “Allison gave it to me. It's wolfsbane powder, poisonous to werewolves.”  
  
“Of course it is. How romantic.”  
  
“Bite me, Whittemore.”  
  
“That sounds like Allison's job.”  
  
Lydia groaned to herself and turned away from the boy.  
  
“So why are you thinking about her so much?”  
  
“It's raining.”  
  
“....And?”  
  
“She lives in a forest.”  
  
“Aw, are you worried about her getting sick?”  
  
“No! ...Yes.” Lydia sighed. She gave up on her work and twisted in her seat to face Jackson “It's just, she's been there for twenty years, all I know is that she has a tree house, I don't even know where her clothes came from because some of them don't look twenty years old. And what about food? Does she just live on apples because that's all I’ve seen her eat!”  
  
“Wouldn't it be better to ask _her_ these questions?” Jackson frowned. “Do you even talk to her about stuff other than the curse or the forest?”  
  
“I.... No, not really.”  
  
“Then do that, hell, if you're that worried take her some clothes, buy the girl some underwear, take her candy I don't know.” He rolled his eyes. “Oh, but Danny also wants you to see if she knows anything else about these druids, if she has anything so we can get a name on them, see if they're still around or whatever.” He waved a dismissive hand.  
  
Lydia had told them both about the tree, but had left out the part where she touched it and was now having nightmares as a direct result of that, it was a weird enough situation as it was, she didn't need to make it worse.

  
  


She isn't really surprised to see Allison sitting against the tree when she gets to the forest after school, but she is. She's surprised to see Allison sat there in that huge dark hunting jacket that in the daylight looks a little too big for her with her knees drawn up to her chest and beanie pulled down over her head. She must not hear Lydia's footsteps over the rain because she doesn't look up until Lydia is stood almost directly in front of her.  
Her eyes widened as she got to her feet, glancing up at Lydia's umbrella and taking a step back.  
  
“I didn't think you would be here today.” She admitted.  
  
“Yet you waited.”  
  
“I did.” Allison nodded.  
  
“You're soaked.”  
  
“It's fine.”  
  
“Allison, get under the umbrella.”  
  
Allison pursed her lips and Lydia narrowed her eyes into a glare.  
  
“What?”  
  
“It's just...”  
  
“What, Allison.”  
  
“I don't want you to poke me in the eye.”  
  
Lydia felt her glare intensify and Allison honest to God looked like she was about to laugh. “Are you serious? I'm not that short! I'm wearing heels!”  
  
“And it's been raining. It's muddy.”  
  
“So?”  
  
“At the very least your shoes will get ruined, but you could fall, you could get sick.”  
  
“You want me to go home, don't you?” Lydia asked. She couldn't believe that she actually sounded a little hurt.

“Want isn't really the word I would use.” Allison replied with a small sigh. “I just don't wish for you to get hurt.”  
  
“Can't I make that decision for myself?” Lydia asked. “You can even hold the umbrella.”  
  
Allison shook her head. “You keep it, just... Watch your step, okay? I, there's a spot that should shelter us enough, a little cramped, if you're okay with that?”

“Lead the way.”  
  
  
  
Cramped wouldn't really be the words to put it. It's dry, the thick twisting branches and leaves has managed to keep it sheltered from the rain but Allison wasn't kidding about cramped.  
Lydia was pressed so close to Allison's shoulder that she could feel the rain from her jacket seeping through her own.  
  
“How do you pass time here?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison seemed a little taken back by the question, she pulled off her beanie and ran her hand through wet curls. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Hobbies, what do you do when I’m not here?”  
  
Allison's eyes widened briefly and she turned away, looking to where the rain was falling, Lydia was pretty sure she could see a blush rising to her cheeks and- oh.  
Oh okay.  
Subject change is needed before those mental images can form.  
  
“Like do you practice with your bow or what?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison smiled softly, pulling the cuffs of her jacket over her hands. “If the weather is good. Days like this, I normally stay in my tree house.”  
  
“You need to show me that one day.”  
  
“It's near the lake, it's not much but it's home.”  
  
“What do you sleep on?”  
  
“I have a sleeping bag, and some furs mountain lions I’ve hunted.” Allison shrugged. “My bag, that's made from deer hide.” Allison gestures to the small pack she normally keeps slung over her shoulder. “The same goes for my quiver.”  
  
“And the arrows?”  
  
“Arrowheads are carved from bone.” Allison reaches over to pull one free and hands it over to her.  
  
Lydia takes a moment to admire the handiwork, it looks expertly carved and Lydia can only wonder how long Allison spends on each one.  
  
“Did your parents teach you that?”  
  
Allison smiles a little, hugging her knees to her chest. “They taught me how to hunt, how to cut apart an animal and how I can use the parts, but no. They didn't.”  
  
“And that jacket-”  
  
“Was my fathers.” Allison finished. “Yeah.”  
  
“I'm sorry.”  
  
“Don't be.” Allison replied. “It happened twenty years ago. I mourned, it's okay.”  
  
“Are they buried here?”  
  
Allison nodded again, “I planted wolfsbane around them so that the wolves wouldn't desecrate their graves. I didn't get to bury Kate. The wolves got her first.”

“I'm sorry Allison.”  
  
“It's fine.”  
  
Lydia frowned, looking at the girl beside her, the logical part of Lydia's mind constantly tried to remind her that technically Allison was close to forty years old. But the truth was, she really wasn't. She was a seventeen year old girl, frozen in time and forced to watch the world around her age.  
She looked more like the fragile seventeen year old girl now than Lydia had seen her so far in their short friendship.  
She actually found herself wanting to reach out that short distance and comfort Allison somehow.  
  
“Anyway.” Allison straightens her legs out and turns her head to Lydia. Eyes bright.  
  
“Tell me about school.”  
  
“What do you want to know?”  
  
“Everything.”  
  
  
  
Lydia talks for over an hour. Not once does Allison try to make her stop and she looks genuinely intrigued by everything Lydia has to say. Lydia tells her about school, about colleges, about the town and TV shows and movies and music and anything and everything she thinks Allison might take some interest in. A lot has happened since 1994, but Lydia is surprised that Allison does seem to know some of the more serious topics.  
Lydia begins to trail off as she notices the rain stopping, an action not missed by Allison who begins to gather her stuff together.  
  
“I wasn't- I don't really want to leave yet.” Lydia admitted.  
  
Allison faltered in her movements and frowned at Lydia. “But the rain has stopped?”  
  
“I'm having fun.”  
  
“Oh...” Allison pursed her lips. “Regardless. We should move.”  
  
“Wolves?”  
  
“We would be trapped here if they attacked. The rain was a decent cover.”  
  
“You're the boss.”  
  
Allison smiled and offered her hand, Lydia took it and allowed herself to be pulled up. She held onto Allison's hand for a moment longer than was probably appropriate before letting her hand drop awkwardly to her side.  
  
  
They walk slowly, no doubt because as Allison pointed out earlier, Lydia is wearing heels and it's pretty muddy now. Lydia makes a mental note to keep some appropriate shoes in her car, something she can change into before coming to meet Allison. It's foolproof.  
She appreciates the gentle sunlight bleeding through the clouds and for the first time, she's aware of birds singing. It's the first time the forest has really sounded alive, Lydia is almost afraid to shatter the illusion by speaking.  
  
“Allison?”  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Some of your clothes, they don't look twenty years old.”  
  
“That's because they aren't.” Allison replied, frowning gently. “They... Remember when I said travellers wander in here and get killed by the wolves?”  
  
Lydia swallows. “Yes?”  
  
“Well, they... They tend to have those huge backpacks you see campers with and-” She shakes her head. “I'm not proud of it.”  
  
“Allison-”  
  
“I don't need pity, Red. Not for this.”  
  
“I wasn't... I wasn't going to pity you.”  
  
Allison sighs, shoving her hands into her pockets.

“Allison, I mean it.” Lydia grabs her bicep to stop the girl and pauses because, wow, muscle. Allison looks at her hand but makes no effort to move away. “The wolves kill innocent people, you can't always save them and it's not like you can alert anybody that they're dead. You're trapped and you need to survive. You haven't done anything wrong.”  
  
Allison doesn't reply for a few moments and Lydia slowly lets her grip on her arm loosen before letting go entirely.  
  
“Thank you.” Allison replied. “I'm sorry, it's just... You're the first person I’ve spoken to this much.”  
  
“Likewise.” Lydia smiled. “I feel like I can tell you anything.”  
  
“And I wouldn't tell because who else am I going to speak to?”  
  
“You wouldn't tell anybody even if you weren't trapped here.”  
  
Allison laughed. “You're right. I wouldn't.” She frowned slightly. “Red, you're the first friend I’ve ever had.”

It was a simple declaration, had anybody else said it, Lydia no doubt would have scoffed and rolled her eyes. But with Allison it was different, she was so earnest, so shy in the way she said it. The way her hands were still in her pockets, eyes cast downwards.

“You're my first real friend too.”  
  
Allison looks a little confused by her response, Lydia has told her about Jackson and Danny and they are her friends, she loves them. But she doesn't really feel like she can talk to them the way she can with Allison. Jackson will forever be her ex while Danny is always going to be Jackson's best friend turned boyfriend.  
  
“I've never had a friend who was just _mine_.” Lydia clarifies and if she isn't mistaken, that blush is back on Allison's cheeks.  
  
  


“I totally forgot to ask you.” Lydia announces right before she's about to leave.  
Allison looks at her quizzically. “The druids, do you know who they are?”

Allison gave a slight shake of her head. “They would have been close to the Hales.”  
  
“Do you know how many there would have been?”  
  
“A regular pack tends to have one druid as an emissary but Talia Hale was powerful and well respected. It wouldn't be surprising if she knew another. There's no way a curse of this magnitude could be cast by one person.”  
Lydia frowned, something that didn't go missed by Allison.  
  
“I'm sorry that I can't help more.”  
  
“No, no it's fine. That's still more than we had earlier. Danny and Jackson can pull some strings.” Lydia dismissed.

“If you're sure...”  
  
“Of course I am.” Lydia smiled. “I'll see you tomorrow?”  
  
“Tomorrow.” Allison nodded. “Same time?”  
  
“Actually... I was thinking maybe earlier?” Lydia suggested. “It's Saturday so I don't have anywhere to be...”  
  
“You don't have to spend all of your time in here, you know.”  
  
“I want to.” Lydia replied. “I expect you to show me that lake one day.”  
  
“When it's not muddy.”  
  
“Promise?”  
  
Allison smiled. “Yeah. I promise, Red.”  
  


  
“Think you can do it?” Lydia asked, switching the phone to her other ear.  
  
“Lydia, Danny is a brilliant computer hacker and my father is a lawyer. We'll figure out who these druids are by the time you get back from your date tomorrow.”  
  
“It's not a date!” Lydia protested, “She's just... She's intriguing.”  
  
“Does she know you like her?” Jackson asked.

“I'm hanging up.” Lydia announced. “Find out who the druids are.”  
  
“You're the boss.”  
  
  
  
  
She was in the forest again, Lydia looks around, realising on some level that she's looking for Allison and begins to walk. The trees are thinner here and when she looks up, Lydia realises the moon is out and pauses to admire it's almost orange colour, typical, considering it's autumn. Though Lydia knows that the full moon isn't until Monday.  
Still, Lydia continues to walk, reminding herself that this is just a dream and that there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing is going to harm her here.  
There's the distinct sound of twigs snapping under heavy steps and Lydia turns to the sound to see Allison stumble through the tress, eyes widening in distress apparently at seeing Lydia and slinging her bow over her shoulder as she approaches her.  
  
“What are you doing here?!” She demanded. “You can't be here!”  
  
“Allison-”  
  
Allison shoves at her. “You need to go. Now! Run!”

Lydia feels even more confused at the blatant fear in the normally calm hunters eyes. It seeps off of her body and chills Lydia to the core and it's all Lydia can do to steady herself by grabbing onto Allison's hand.  
  
“Allison, what's going on?”  
  
Several howls break through the air, coming from somewhere behind Allison, Allison looks over her shoulder just as a cloud passes over the moon entirely and illuminating the forest in its orange glow.  
  
“What happened to you?” Lydia asked as her eyes lock onto the painful looking cut  
along Allison's jaw. She reaches out to touch it but Allison bats her hand away, confused.  
  
“I'm fine.” She yanks her hand away. “You need to go.”  
  
“I'm not leaving you.”  
  
Allison glares at her, clearly pissed off that Lydia still insists on being stubborn and for a moment it all feels too real, too familiar to be a dream.  
The moment passes quickly as Allison closes the gap between them, close enough that all Lydia has to do is lean up on her toes and- no, dream or not, this isn't happening.

“Run.” Is all Allison says, her voice a whisper that almost gets lost in the howls that dominate their surroundings. Allison's expression softens a little, glancing down at Lydia's hand and Lydia watches Allison's scratched and grazed hand reach for her own, their fingers barely brush when thick roots wrap around Allison's wrist. Her gaze shoots up to meet Lydia's before she's yanked back, body disappearing into the the trees.  
  
“Allison!” Lydia shoots up in her bed, heart hammering in her throat. It takes several moments to gain her bearings and get her breathing under control.  
When she finally does she runs a hand through her hair, her sweaty hair and grimaces, sliding from her bed and flinging the curtains open.  
The first signs of dawn are beginning to show and Lydia lets her head rest against the cold glass.

She actually found herself regretting not kissing the Allison from her dream.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I'll meet you here. Same time as always.” Allison replied. She held up her pinkie finger. “Promise.”  
> Lydia laughed and hooked her pinkie with Allison's.

 

Lydia got to the forest at around noon, walking awkwardly to support the weight of the backpack she had brought with her, God, if anybody saw her now, she would never live it down.  
She was wearing flats for crying out loud and- okay, so they were a two inch heel but honestly they may has well be flat.  
Allison was back to carving at the block of wood Lydia had remembered seeing her with a couple of days earlier but quickly hid it when she spotted Lydia.  
  
“Going somewhere?” She asked through a frown at spotting the bag, honestly it was hard to miss, it was huge and red and black.  
  
Lydia shrugged it off and almost fell at the loss of weight, Allison's hand shot out to support her.  
  
“It's for you.”  
  
“...What?”  
  
“You've lived here for twenty years, you've had to rely on stuff from people who get eaten by wolves so...” Lydia gestured to the bag. “I got you some clothes, some food, first aid kits, flash light... A couple of books.”  
  
Allison was silent as she stared at the bag between them, lips pursed.  
  
“I... I don't know what to say.”  
  
“Start with 'thank you Lydia.'”  
  
Allison smiled softly and turned to Lydia, hand reaching out to rest on her wrist. Lydia studied it for a moment, there were no grazes, no scratches, just the occasional faded scar.  
  
“Thank you, Red. I mean it.”  
  
Lydia huffed a laugh and pushed the bag towards her. “It's a little heavy.”  
  
“That's fine.” Allison lifts the bag and swings it onto her back with far too much ease and toes at the dirt with her boot. “It's not muddy now.”  
  
“No, it's not.”  
  
“Do you... Do you maybe want to go to the lake?”  
  
Lydia beamed. “Lead the way.”

  
  
  
The lake is beautiful, the water looks perfect for swimming and Lydia is often transfixed by two dragonflies dancing around each other on the surface.  
The bag sits open between them and Lydia takes Allison through everything she brought her.  
  
“The hunger games?” Allison stares at the book.  
  
“Trust me, I think you and Katniss are definitely going to connect.” Lydia replied.  
  
She lets Allison explore the contents of the bag for a while. The girl looks like she's experiencing ten years worth of Christmas and birthday gifts all at once.  
Allison laughs when she finds the underwear, it was just one thing Lydia couldn't let go of and it needed to be fixed immediately.  
Lydia rifles through her own bag and pulls out the lunch she had brought for them both. Allison stares at her in confusion until Lydia hands her a neatly wrapped package.  
  
“Bet it's been a while since you've had a subway, right?” Lydia asked.  
  
“You know I can't pay you back, right?” Allison asked quietly. “I- my family has money, and I'm the heir so technically I'm probably pretty well off... but...”  
  
“It's fine Allison. Really.” Lydia cut her off. “I wouldn't have done it if I couldn’t afford it.” When Allison's frown didn't leave her face, Lydia shuffled closer to the girl to nudge her with her shoulder. “Consider it a thanks for making sure I didn't get eaten by wolves.”  
  
Allison does smile a little and that's a victory in itself.  
  
“Thank you. I mean it.”  
  
“I know you do.”  
  
“I don't know how I can pay you back.”  
  
“When you get out of here, come shopping with me.” Lydia shrugged simply.  
  
Allison looked a little like she wanted to protest but clearly thought better of it and  
simply nodded. “I can do that.”  
  
  
They wind up staying there for most of the day, content to just sit there and swap stories. Lydia likes it there because the scenery is honestly beautiful and Allison is happy because she has a good viewpoint, no way to be ambushed by the wolves unless she _really_ let her guard down. Something Lydia wasn't entirely sure the girl was capable of doing.  
  
  
As they talked Lydia began to realise that Allison's loneliness wasn't just limited to her exile in the forest, an only child, brought up as a hunter and going where the job takes her. Never staying in one place long enough to make any friends.  
Allison told her about how her parents and aunt would train her, have her fire arrows until she could hit bulls-eyes effortlessly, even if it made her palms bleed. How she was taught to see a werewolf as a monster, a constant threat instead of a person and how occasionally, she would overhear them talking about killing magic users.  
When Allison talked about her past, she always began to sound a little distant and looked so unbearably sad, Lydia couldn't help but grab her hand and squeeze encouragingly and when she did, Allison looked at her and smiled, the sun catching her eyes just right and making them flicker gold, just like they had the day they met. It made her look ethereal and Lydia was caught off guard with just how gorgeous the girl sat beside her was.  
Allison's smile grew a little right before she launched into a series of questions about Lydia's childhood.  
Lydia obliged and told her about her childhood, about that Stiles kid who had a borderline obsessive crush on her, how she and Jackson began to date and their subsequent breakup a couple of years later.  
  
...How she had quickly realised that nobody cared about the smart kids and had tailored an appearance to fit the queen bee model, that she was top of the class in all of her subjects and even knew archaic Latin, but nobody knew.  
  
“Until me.” Allison spoke up when she realised Lydia wasn't going to continue.  
  
“Until you.” Lydia nodded. She lets the moment hang between them, files the feeling away, the way Allison's gaze warmed her and left her heart beating considerably faster.  
  
Holy shit.  
  
This was definitely a crush.  
  
Lydia reached Into her purse and pulled out nail varnish and turned back to Allison.  
“...What are you doing?”

Lydia snatched one of Allison's hands and tugged until Allison was sat cross legged opposite her. “I,” Lydia unscrewed the cap. “am going to paint your nails.”  
  
Allison laughed. “It's just going to get chipped in the next day.”  
  
“Hush, Allison. Enjoy the moment.”  
  
Allison didn't complain again.  
  
  
  
By the time Allison walks her back to the edge of the forest, Lydia is painfully aware that this was by all definitions, a date. Allison had smiled and laughed more in the last few hours than Lydia thinks she has for so long, her smile is dazzling.

“My jaw aches.” Allison admitted, rubbing at the back of her neck. “Thank you for today, Red. I had fun.”  
  
“Me too.” Lydia replied. “My usual idea of fun Is to go shopping, I definitely enjoyed this more.”  
  
Allison's smile brightened. “Yeah?”  
  
“Definitely.” Lydia bumped her shoulder against Allison's, feeling their hands brush briefly. “I should bring my sketchbook next time.”  
  
“Sketchbook...” Allison trails off and shakes her head a little. “You can draw.” She doesn't even sound surprised.  
  
“Do you mind?”  
  
“If you draw the forest-”  
  
“If I draw you.”  
  
She's pretty sure Allison almost trips, the graceful hunter almost _tripped_.  
  
“I don't mind.” Allison replied, her smile fading slightly. “But... You can't come tomorrow. Or until Wednesday for that matter...”  
  
“What? Why?” Lydia frowned. “Did I do something?”  
  
“No, no not at all.” Allison placed her hand on Lydia's shoulder, hand sliding along her back. “It's the full moon.”  
  
“On _Monday_.” Lydia replied.  
  
“It affects the wolves.” Allison replied with a sigh. “Makes them more forward, brash and deadly.” Allison stepped closer. “They're more likely to attack and chances are they know where we meet and they'll be waiting. Feral wolves are not to be fucked around with and I can't fight them all.”  
  
“Allison-”  
  
“Don't come here until Wednesday. I mean it, Red. It won't be safe for you.”  
  
“But you'll be fine?” Lydia asked, the idea that Allison was going to be spending the next few days no doubt fighting a group of wolves who definitely want her dead isn't calming for Lydia at all.  
  
“I've survived twenty years of this. I've killed some of their pack before.”  
  
“Can't you just hide in that circle? The mountain ash circle?”  
  
“My tree house. It's got wolfsbane worked right into the wood like a varnish.” Allison replied. “But I can't just hide there. I don't have enough containers for water, I need food, I need to patrol to make sure nobody wanders in...”

“But you'll stay safe? Right?”  
  
“I'll be fine. I'm careful, I have checkpoints.”  
  
Lydia's fingers twitched and she couldn't really help herself, she stepped forward and grabbed Allison's wrists with both hands. “Stay safe?”  
  
“I will.” Allison, slipped her hands from Lydia's. “But stay away okay?” There was a line of tension in Allison's body. There was something in her expression, she looked almost haunted and that definitely wasn't a look Lydia had noticed in her eyes all day.  
  
“Only until Wednesday?”  
  
“I'll meet you here. Same time as always.” Allison replied. She held up her pinkie finger. “Promise.”  
  
Lydia laughed and hooked her pinkie with Allison's.  
  
“I'll see you on Wednesday.”  
  
Allison smiled. “Wednesday.”  
  
  
  
  
Jackson slammed a piece of paper onto the counter between them.  
  
“Are we awesome, or are we awesome?” He asked with a grin. Danny rolled his eyes at the boy as he set their mugs of coffee down beside them.  
Lydia frowned at the blurry image, clearly a photo that had been blown up.  
  
“What am I looking at?”  
  
“August 12th, 1994.” Danny replied, sliding onto the seat beside Jackson. “The annual town barbecue.” He reaches over to tap the face of the woman stood in the centre. “Meet Talia Hale.”  
  
“We did a little digging, the Hale house acted as the hosting spot for the barbecue for ten years running.” Jackson added.  
  
Danny nodded and began to point to various faces, listing off the Hale family.  
  
“How does this help though?” Lydia asked. “We need the druids, not the Hales.”  
  
“Well you see, that's the thing.” Danny smirked. He pointed to a man at the corner of the picture. “Recognise him?”  
  
Lydia focused on the man and how he seemed to be engaged in an intense looking conversation with the man Danny says is Talia's husband and recognition washed over her. “Is that... Is that the vet?”  
  
“Alan Deaton.” Jackson nodded.  
  
“And this man.” Danny's finger moved over to a definitely familiar face, albeit twenty years younger.  
  
“The sheriff?”  
  
“Look at the woman next to him.”  
  
“Claudia Stilinski.” Jackson replied. “Died early 2005. August 12th also happened to be her birthday.”  
  
“And they're relevant because....”  
  
“I had my dad do some digging, they were very close to the Hale family.”  
  
“And we managed to pull up these.” He pushed some more photos across the table.  
  
“We went all _'_ girl with the dragon tattoo' on it and tracked down the photographer for the newspaper and luckily for us he kept copies.”  
  
“Lucky indeed.” Lydia murmured, glancing through the pictures. They were fairly predictable, Talia smiling and looking engrossed in conversation with several guests, her husband on the grill flipping burgers while the sheriff stands beside him with a beer, the younger kids all playing together. They're all pictures you would expect to see from an event like this. The only photo that shows any real significance is the final one, Talia, Deaton and Claudia sat together, Talia and Deaton are smiling at Claudia's look of wonder as she holds a knife just above a box, torn paper around it. A gift for her birthday? At most it showed that they were all close.  
  
“So it looks like I’m going to be paying a visit to Deaton tomorrow.” Lydia replied. Placing all of the pictures into her bag. “I'm keeping these, by the way.”  
  
“It's yours, but... Are you sure that's wise?” Jackson asked.  
  
“Yeah, he could be dangerous.” Danny frowned.  
  
“The town has no magic for him to draw from, I think I’ll be fine.”  
  
“Still...” Danny hesitated. “We should come with you.”  
  
“But it's Sunday.” Jackson groaned.  
  
“Jackson. Lydia needs our help.” Danny replied firmly.  
  
“Ugh fine. I hate you.”  
  
“Liar.”  
  
“Yeah yeah, you're both pretty.” Lydia rolled her eyes.  
  
“So what's the plan?” Jackson asked. “Walk in and bat your eyelashes to make him break the curse to free your girlfriend.”  
  
“She's not my-” Lydia cut herself off with a sigh. “Less eyelash batting, more threatening.”  
  
“And if he refuses?”  
  
“I guess we tell the sheriff? Make it known that this guy is probably the reason that the magic is gone?” Danny suggested.  
  
“Or we break it ourselves.” Lydia muttered.  
  
“Lydia, none of us are magical.” Jackson replied.  
  
“No, we just don't know.” Lydia answered back. Her grandmother had been a renowned magic user and it wasn't uncommon for it to skip a generation. Danny didn't have a drop of magical blood in him and they just didn't know with Jackson, they knew nothing of his birth parents and it definitely wasn't a subject they would bring up for his sake.  
  
Jackson nodded slowly. “Well okay then. You need to work on your strategies. Me and Danny are going to go...”  
  
“We are?” Danny glanced at Jackson and saw the expression on his face. “Okay we are.”  
  
Lydia rolled her eyes. “Have a good night you two.”  
  
  
  
 

She's unsteady when she meets Jackson and Danny the next morning outside the vets.  
  
“You look like shit.” Jackson announces bluntly.  
  
“Bad dream.” Lydia replied. It wasn't a lie, she had been in the forest again, her paranoia of Allison being alone to fight the wolves was definitely getting to her, the entire dream had consisted of her following the howls and yelling for the girl.  
It did nothing to help Lydia deny to herself that she was developing feelings for this girl.  
  
“So, plan?” Danny asked.  
  
“We go in, tell him we know about the curse, demand he break it.” Lydia explained.  
  
“That's it?”  
  
“That's it.”  
  
“Pretty basic, isn't it?”  
  
“It's the full moon tomorrow and werewolves are apparently more dangerous during this time than ever, believe it or not. So the sooner the better.”

Jackson and Danny shared a look, hesitation and concern clear in their eyes, but after a moment they both shrugged and nodded.  
  
“Okay sure.”  
  
“Whatever.”  
  
“Shall we, then?” Lydia asked, gesturing to the doors.  
  
“Lead the way.”  
  
“Well okay then.” Lydia smiled, flicking her hair over her shoulder and striding towards the doors.

  
  
She wasn't surprised to see Scott there, though the way his eyebrows shot up and looked at the trio clearly indicated he was shocked.  
  
“Is Deaton here?” Lydia asked, already moving to where she was pretty sure his office was.  
  
“Y-yeah he's in the- you can't go back there...” Scott protested weakly as Lydia walked into the room.  
  
Deaton's expression remained neutral as Jackson closed the door behind them.  
  
“Yes?” He asked politely. “How can I help you?”  
  
“Yeah, we were wondering if you could tell us how to break the curse on the forest?” Lydia replied, equally as politely.  
  
That was the magic word, his expression darkens for a brief moment, enough that it could probably be blamed on a trick of the light but she really isn't in the position to let anything slip past her right now.  
  
“I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about.” Deaton replied. “I'm a vet.”  
Lydia reached into her purse and pulled out the photograph of him with Talia and Claudia along with the group photo, unfolding them and placing them down on his desk.  
  
“So this isn't you with the Hale family two months before the fire?”  
  
“The Hale family were well loved by the community.” Deaton pushed them back towards her, gaze lingering on the first photo for a few moments longer.  
  
“So, how angry were you when a family of werewolf hunters attacked and killed Talia Hale with no true reason?” Lydia asked. “I'm willing to bet very. In fact, I’m willing to bet that you and Claudia were approached for help by Peter Hale to avenge the loss of Talia and the other Hales.”  
  
“Miss-”  
  
“Martin, Lydia Martin.”  
  
“Lydia. What are you accusing me of?”  
  
“I think you're a druid. I think you tried to curse the Argent's but your spell went wrong and you cursed the Hales and as a result you damned this town to the next twenty years as being completely powerless.”  
  
Deaton leant forward, hands clasping tight enough that there was a distinct pop from his knuckles with the tension.  
  
“You could admit it, or we could get my father involved.” Jackson spoke up. Lydia smiled to match the threat, she would have preferred to have waited to use the lawyer card, but it seems to have the desired effect.  
  
Deaton's lips curled into a smile. “Has little red riding hood been wandering into the forest?” He asked, Lydia suppressed a groan, she was burning this outfit when she got home.  
  
“Perhaps I have.” Lydia replied.  
  
“How is the hunter?”

“She's doing well, I’ll tell her you asked.”  
  
“But of course, it's the full moon tomorrow, yes? The one time where the hunter truly becomes the hunted.”  
  
Lydia stiffened slightly, she refused to be beaten at her own game. “She is more than capable of handling herself. She's survived twenty years, she can handle another moon.”  
  
“Yes of course, but...” Deaton paused to look thoughtful. “What do you think would happen if I, close friend to the Hales and the Stilinski's, were to tell the Sheriff and the mayor that the reason for this towns... Misfortune... Was because of a witch, living in the woods. Feeding off of the energy of the town in order to retain her longevity?”

“I would think that they would call bullshit if they took the time to go in there and ask Argent.” Jackson replied.  
  
“And if I were to say that your hunter played a part in the circumstances leading to Claudia's death? That she cursed her?”  
  
Lydia clenched her jaw, fist clenching by her side. For whatever reason, Deaton didn't want this curse broken and he was willing to frame Allison for it, hell, by the sounds of it, he was responsible for the death of Stiles' mother.  
Lydia just needed to know why.  
  
“Is that all?” Deaton asked, rising to his feet. “I have an appointment in...” He checks his watch. “Five minutes.”  
  
Lydia glances at Jackson from the corner of her eye and does the same in Danny's direction. “I suppose.” She nodded. “But I’m going to warn you, we're going to break it. And if we can, you're going to pay for this, a curse for this long is unethical.” She turns on her heel. “Come on guys.”  
  
They pass Scott and Stiles on their way out but Lydia doesn't spare her a glance as they leave the building.  
  
  
  
She waits until they're in the car before she clenches the steering wheel in her hands.  
  
“Fuck!”  
  
Danny reaches over to pat her on her shoulder.  
  
“So he's evil.”  
  
“Thank you Jackson. I noticed.” Lydia leant back in her seat. “He doesn't want the curse broken. Why?”  
  
“Can't you ask Allison?” Danny asked. “There's a chance that she knows something.”  
  
“It's the full moon tomorrow, the wolves are on edge and she asked me not to go. It's not safe. I can't see her until Wednesday.”

“We shouldn't talk about this here.” Danny replied quietly, looking toward the building.  
  
Lydia took the hint and started the car. Letting Jackson and Danny drift into conversation while she began to consider her options.  
  
“I'm going to break the curse.”

Jackson nodded slowly. “Okay great and how do you plan on doing that exactly?”  
  
“All curses have a fail safe, it's kinda how they work...” Lydia began. “It can be anything, from destroying a talisman to a kiss-” Jackson opened his mouth and Lydia held a hand up to cut him off. “We can rule the kiss out right now Jackson. The curse was cast on the Argent family, not Allison alone.”  
  
“Yeah but... They're dead right? Allison's the only one?”  
  
“It still seems unlikely that the fail safe is going to be a kiss though.” Danny replied.  
  
“The fail safe is normally determined by whoever created the curse, not necessarily by the person who casts it.”  
  
“You've been doing your reading.”  
  
Lydia shrugs. “My grandmother was powerful, I remember her telling me this stuff before she died.”  
  
“Why would she teach you about magic? Magic had already gone by the time we were born.”  
  
“Maybe she believed that it would come back.”  
  
“Or...” Danny starts slowly, looking from Jackson to Lydia. “She wanted to teach you so that you could break it?”  
  
“That's ridiculous.” Lydia replied with a frown. “But... I think we still have her stuff in the attic?”

“How can we help?” Danny asked.  
  
“Move the boxes into my room and then leave me be for a while?” Lydia smiled hopefully. “I need to research and I can't focus with an audience.”  
  
“So we move boxes and we can go home?” Jackson was already moving from his seat.  
  
“That's right.”  
  
  
  
  
Lydia sat on her bed with books spread out in front of her, she spent the entire night reading them, memorising the information until she was sure that she could re-enact almost every ritual she found.  
One of the books, Lydia found was more like a journal, everything was handwritten with parts crossed out with new information scribbled beside it and she was left wondering if it was her grandmothers private journal, if the runes and sigils drawn in were her own, if the spells were things that she had developed herself.  
At one point, Lydia looked out of her window at the descending moon and wished for Allison to be safe.

She reached up to hold the necklace Allison had given her, not entirely sure she can wait until Wednesday to see her again.

  
  
Determined to keep her promise, Lydia immersed herself in school and her research for the next two days, reading every book in the library and everything her grandmother owned before turning to the internet, studying blog after blog.  
In a town like Beacon Hills, it was easy to forget that the rest of the world had access to magic. She almost considers looking for outside help, somebody to explain the predicament to, but with Allison being an Argent... It probably wouldn't be for the best, according to the families apparent notoriety as unjustified werewolf hunters.

She could do this on her own, with the occasional assistance from Danny and Jackson, probably.

She doesn't sleep nearly enough over the next two days and at several points during the night she finds herself straining for the sounds of howling and wondering if Allison was okay.

 

When Wednesday finally rolled around, Lydia contemplated actually not going to school and instead picking up some food and heading directly for the forest, that was, until she remembered that she and Allison had a deal, after school, same spot as always.  
She was surprised at how much she missed Allison, it had only been three days since they had seen each other last but Lydia couldn't stop thinking about her, her doe eyes, sharp jaw, fucking _dimples_.  
She was only brought out of her thoughts when Jackson snapped his fingers in front of her face.  
  
“Jesus, have you even slept?” He asked.  
  
“For a few hours.” Lydia replied.  
  
“Nightmares?” Danny asked, concerned.  
  
“Yeah.” Running through the forest, tripping over roots, hearing the panting of wolves nearby, the usual. “I'm fine.”  
  
“And not at all counting down the minutes until you can go and see Allison?” Jackson grinned. Lydia sighed and just decided, fuck it.  
  
“I am actually.” She nodded. “And I'm pretty sure I like her.”  
  
“About fucking time you admit it.” Jackson clapped his hands together. “Okay now you go and kiss her.”  
  
“Priorities, Jackson. I need to figure out how to break the curse first.”  
  
“Have you found anything?” Danny asked.  
  
Lydia nodded and reached into her bag, pulling out her grandmothers journal and turning it to the specific page.  
  
“According to my grandmother, the best time to counteract and magic, is to do it at the same point the magic was used.”  
  
“Meaning?” Jackson frowned.  
  
“Moon phases play an important part in magic, so to get the best effect, we should aim to break the curse on a day where the moon was in the same position as it was twenty years ago.”  
  
“And what phase was the moon at when the curse was cast?” Danny asked, a tone to his voice suggested that he already knew.  
  
“The full moon.” Lydia sighed. “Ironically enough, it's called the hunters moon.”  
  
“Of course it is.” Danny gave a sigh of his own.  
  
“It's fine.” Lydia waved a hand. “I'll talk to Allison and we'll figure it out.”  
  
“While making sure that Deaton doesn't somehow plot our deaths in the meantime.” Jackson added.  
  
“Yes, that too.” Lydia glared in his direction. “Thank you for the reminder.”  
  
“Thank you for dragging us into this.” Jackson smiled smugly.  
  
If Lydia wasn't counting down the minutes before, now she definitely was.

 

Dressed in her two inch heel boots and green coat, she had ditched the idea of bringing food in favour of just _seeing_ Allison. She walked towards the trees determinedly, eyes scanning for Allison.  
When she finally spots Allison, just sat there as always, she couldn't stop herself from speeding up, braking into an almost jog and the second Allison spotted her she was on her feet, sun hitting the side of her face and Lydia faltered only briefly as she spotted the painful looking cut along her jawline, dipping slightly down to her throat, the bags under her eyes are a testament to how exhausted she must be and her fathers hunting jacket is missing but Allison is here and very much alive and Lydia doesn't really think she can blamed for throwing her arms around the girl as soon as she's close enough.  
She feels Allison tense and hiss quietly but before Lydia can even think about pulling away, Allison's arms are wrapping around her shoulders and holding her carefully.  
  
“Missed you too, Red.” Allison laughs.  
  
“What happened?” Lydia asked, pulling back and staring at the cut. “Are you okay?”  
  
“Got ambushed, a few cuts but nothing too serious.”

Lydia didn't feel reassured by Allison's words as the girl let go of her but was suitably distracted when Allison took a step back and offered Lydia her hand.  
  
“The lake?” She suggested.  
  
“Of course.” Lydia took her hand and prayed to God that her palms weren't sweating.  
  
  
  
She walked side by side with Allison, glancing down at their hands frequently. Despite Allison apparently being in some degree of pain and like she's slept less than Lydia has over the last few days, there seems to be a certain spring in her step that Lydia just can't ignore.  
  
“You seem happy.” Lydia comments as casually as she can manage.  
  
“You're here and the wolves won't bother us today.” Allison replied. “This is the only day where I’m pretty much guaranteed to not have to worry about the wolves.”  
  
So that was it, this was the closest Allison could get to a day off, no wonder she was happy.  
  
“I also saw a deer at the lake today, if we're lucky, it might return.”  
  
“You won't kill it will you?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison laughed and turned to Lydia, eyes bright. “Not with you around, I'll hunt afterwards.”  
  
“I should just start bringing you food, you're not going to be hunting for your food when I get you out of here. You're going to have to eat pizza like a regular teenager.”  
  
Allison slowed a little as they got closer to the lake. “Do you really think you can do it?”  
  
“I know who did it, I can guess as to why, I know when the curse was cast I just...”  
  
“Need to figure out how to break it?” Allison finished.  
  
Lydia sighed, dropping Allison's hand and missing the warmth immediately. She shoved her hands into her pockets to hide this from Allison and continued to walk beside her.  
  
“I think you can do it.” Allison spoke up again. Stopping to look out at the lake. “You're the most remarkable person I’ve ever met. Determined too.” She turned to smile at Lydia. “Yeah, you can do this.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
“I've been trapped her for twenty years. I figured I would die here eventually. The thought that I might be able to leave?” Allison shook her head. “A little difficult to comprehend.” She walked closer towards the edge of the lake and sat down carefully.  
Lydia moved to follow her and watched Allison lean back on her forearms, grimacing slightly but relaxing after a few moments.  
  
“So...” Allison began. “What did you find out?”  
  
  
  
Lydia spent the next hour or so explaining everything to Allison, Deaton's definite role in the curse along with that of Claudia Stilinski. Allison frowned at the woman’s name, Lydia had explained that she was the mother of the boy who had a crush on Lydia and that appeared to satisfy Allison, even though Lydia could tell she was deep in thought and she mentally kicked herself for not bringing along the photograph from the barbecue. Lydia then went on to explain the technicalities of a curse and how they generally have a fail safe built into them, that all curses are designed to be broken eventually once their goal has been achieved.  
Allison listens intently and her intrigue is piqued more when Lydia begins to talk about her grandmothers collection and everything she's learning from that.  
Allison is thoughtful for a while once Lydia's finished, reaching up to rub at the skin around the cut on her jaw. Lydia sincerely hopes she's keeping it clean, it seems to be healing well enough though.  
  
“How can you break a magical curse when there is no magic?” Allison asked.  
Lydia draws a circle into the dirt in front of her, watching a familiar dragonfly skim over the water.  
  
“Well you see... That's the thing.” Lydia lifts her head to look over to Allison, waiting until she meets her gaze. “That tree stump, that's what channels the magic from the earth, right?”  
  
Allison nodded.  
  
“And the curse is a barrier that stops you leaving and has trapped you here, yes?”  
  
“Right.”  
  
“So... In theory...”  
  
Allison's eyes widened. “The magic in the forest could still be active!” She laughed suddenly, hand pushing through her hair and Lydia noticed a couple of grazes on her knuckles. “You're a genius. Seriously.”  
  
“And nobody knows because they're too scared to come here because of the wolves.”  
  
“But Deaton knows... So he can come in here and have access to the entire supply.”  
  
“And nobody would think twice about a vet going to a forest full of wild animals.”  
  
Allison was still smiling and staring at Lydia in awe. “I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. You're incredible.”  
  
Lydia couldn't help but blush slightly and reached over to push at Allison's shoulder.  
  
Allison rolled with it but Lydia didn't miss the way she grimaced. Allison did a good job of covering it up by flopping back against the ground, closing her eyes as the sun hit her face.  
  
“Allison?” Lydia asked, taking advantage of the moment to shuffle a little closer and let her jaw drop, Allison had _freckles._ How had she never noticed this before? Sure they were delicate and only really noticeable when she was this close to her but they were definitely there, a small scattering over her nose and God, just when Lydia didn't think she could be cuter.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“What happened while I was gone?”  
  
Allison opened her eyes and Lydia let her gaze drift pointedly to the cut on Allison's jaw.  
  
“I was ambushed, completely surrounded.”  
  
“Who did that?” Lydia asked, reaching out to touch her fingers to the cut, Allison's body tensed as she resisted the instinct to flinch away.  
  
“That was the alpha, Peter.” Allison sat up slowly. “I have a few others on my back from when I was escaping, but they're fine.”  
  
“Have you bandaged them?”  
  
Allison bit on her bottom lip.  
  
“Have you at least cleaned them?”  
  
“Does a swim in the lake count?”  
  
Lydia pushes back any and all mental images of Allison swimming in the lake, swimming _naked_ and focuses more on the task at hand.  
  
“Do you have one of the first aid kits I gave you?”  
  
Allison nods, leaning to the side to grab her pack and pulling out the miniature kit from it. Lydia takes it and empties the contents, focusing on grabbing the anti bacterial wipes.  
  
“You don't have to...” Lydia began. “But can you let me take a look? So I can make sure they aren't going to get infected?”  
  
She fully expects Allison to say no, she wouldn't blame her if she did. So she can't blame herself for feeling surprised (and more than a little happy) when Allison moves, stopping so that she's sat cross legged in front of Lydia and facing the lake. Lydia shifts onto her knees and freezes completely when Allison grabs at the hem of her t-shirt, pulling it over her head slowly and dropping it to the ground beside her. Lydia spends the first minute just distracted by the muscles, that and the complete lack of bra which okay, holy _shit._  
It's only when Allison rolls her shoulders a little Lydia forces herself to get her shit together and focus on the cuts.  
It's like Allison said, they aren't that bad, and only one probably really needs her attention, starting at the top of her right shoulder and down just past where her shoulder blade ends.  
Lydia moves closer, bracing one hand against Allison's left shoulder to support herself and hopefully reassure Allison and using her right hand to clean the cuts, taking her time on each one.  
She shifts back once she's covered the largest of the cuts with gauze and lets her hand drop from Allison's shoulder a moment later.  
  
“All done.”  
  
Allison rolls her shoulders again and reaches for her shirt, slow and methodical as she pulls it back on.  
  
“Nothing bad?”  
  
“It looks like you've had worse.” Lydia replied. Eyes catching a thin pearl scar running up her left side.  
  
“The nephew, Derek.” Allison explained. “It... Took a while to get back on my feet.” She frowns. “Two people died that month.”  
  
“I'm sorry.” Lydia replied. She doesn't think that any amount of apologies will make Allison's guilt fade, but she wants to help Allison however she can.  
  
“It's fine.” Allison waved her hand. “The most I can do now is hope to end this curse and stop the wolves.”  
  
Lydia reaches for Allison's hand without thinking, smiling a little at the chipped nail polish.  
  
“We'll figure it out, okay?”  
  
Allison smiled back, hand twisting to hold onto Lydia's better. “That we will, Red.”

 

 

“Lydia I think we need to stage an intervention.” Jackson declares, loud enough so that the librarian actually has to shush him.  
  
“What?” Lydia frowns as he and Danny slide into the seats opposite. “How did you know I would even be here?”  
  
“You have a free period and you're literally spending all of your time between visiting your hunter in the woods and learning about magic to free her from said prison. It wasn't really hard to figure out.” Danny replied.  
  
“But. Plus note, we found clearer pictures of Claudia and we may or may not have gone all Veronica Mars and taken a picture of Deaton as he opened up this morning.”  
  
Jackson nudges Danny and the boy rolls his eyes and pulls out some pictures that they obviously printed out quickly.  
  
“Why do you need these again?” Danny asked.  
  
“If I’m right about there being magic in the forest, it's possible Deaton used that to kill Claudia, his motive I still don't know, but if either of them have been in the forest there's a chance that Allison has seen them before.”  
  
Jackson pulled her book away from her before Lydia could lift it again, Lydia made a sound of protest and leant over to try and get it back.  
  
“No more research. Finish school and go to Allison and sleep. You look like shit.”  
  
“I look fabulous.” Lydia snapped back.  
  
“You wanna keep looking that way?” Jackson asked. “Go and nap.”  
  
Lydia looked to Danny for help but got a shrug in response.  
  
“Fine. God I hate it when you care.”  
  
  
  
Allison sat against a tree as she studied the two pictures carefully, she was wearing one of the black t-shirts Lydia had brought her and was definitely shivering a little, her fathers jacket was still absent and Lydia wondered what had happened to it.  
  
“I saw her before.” Allison said eventually, handing Lydia the pictures back. “Must have been over ten years ago though.”  
  
Bingo. Lydia moved closer. “Did you speak to her? When was it? Did she look okay?”  
  
“I... Shit, yeah I did. Did I?” Allison frowned but nodded to herself. “I did. I found her a mile or two away from here, near to where the Hale house was. I told her it wasn't safe here and offered to help her find her way out. We walked, she asked me a few questions about the forest... She told me about... Shit, she mentioned her son- I couldn't pronounce his name, she said it was Polish...”  
  
Lydia nodded. That sounds about right. “When was this?”  
  
Allison chewed on her bottom lip and looked to the sky, signs that Lydia had learnt by now meant that she was thinking back, filing through twenty years of her memories.

“August... September of 2004.” Allison replied eventually.  
  
Ten years ago. Lydia stared at the picture of Claudia. “Did she ever come back?”  
  
“Not that I noticed... The forest is huge, Red.”  
  
“Well how do you normally know when there's somebody here?”  
  
“I just... Do.” Allison shrugged. “Like, the sound carries really far or I’ll be nearby at the time and just... Know.”  
  
“So assuming that magic does work here, could I assume that Claudia used a glamour or something to hide herself so that you wouldn't notice her?”  
  
“I guess?”  
  
“And then I can go ahead and bet that if Deaton visits here, he uses a glamour too and that's why you haven't seen him here.” Lydia replied. She turned away to yawn into her fist and ignored the smirk from Allison when she looked back to her.  
  
“Any ideas?” Allison asked.  
  
Lydia reached for her grandmothers journal and began to flick through the pages.  
  
“I have a spell here, well, enchantment more like I guess? It'll make us see through the glamour.”  
  
“How can I help?”  
  
Lydia handed Allison a list she had copied from the journal earlier, Allison looked amused by how prepared Lydia was.  
  
“Can you find all of these in here? I figured that it would all work better if the ingredients came from the forest.”  
  
Allison's eyes scanned the list. “Crow feathers, no problem. Lemon grass and violets are fine... Dragonfly?” Allison's eyes darted towards the lake and she sighed.  
  
“Yeah...”  
  
“Is there anything you can't get?”  
  
“Nope, should all be fine.”  
  
“Good.” Lydia smiled. She yawned again and Allison just laughed until Lydia glared her into submission. “But I'm going to need something to bind it to. Infuse it all into something we can tie around our wrists, so I’m going to need to go and find some rope.”  
  
“Are rope bracelets fashionable, Red?” Allison asked.  
  
“What are you talking about?”  
  
“You always look like a model, would you wear a piece of magic rope around your wrist?”  
  
Lydia glared at Allison again, but softened her gaze as she reached into her shirt and pulled out her necklace. “I haven't taken this off since you gave it to me.” She replied.  
That seemed to do the trick. Allison's gaze dropped to the vial, smiling softly as she folded the list up and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans.  
  
“Why are you so tired?” Allison asked.  
  
Lydia waved a hand. “It's fine.”  
  
“No it isn't. You're exhausted, aren't you?”  
  
“So are you.” Lydia shot back, gesturing to the bags under Allison's eyes.  
  
“I'm pretty sure these are just a permanent addition to my features now, Red.” Allison replied. “What's wrong?” She asked again, the concern even more evident in her voice this time.  
  
Lydia shook her head, slipping the journal into her bag. “I've just been doing a lot of reading, I get engrossed and the next thing I know it's four in the morning...”  
  
“You don't have to be here, if you're tired you should rest.” Allison leant forward to rest her hand on Lydia's knee. “You'll get sick if you don't sleep.”  
  
“I don't want to leave.” Lydia replied.  
  
“Well I mean... My tree house is a twenty minute walk away, if you want to go nap In there?”  
  
As much as Lydia wanted to see where Allison had made her home, a twenty minute walk really didn't seem very appealing today, she was far too comfortable sitting in their spot of sun. Lydia knew they were safe there too, Allison had left her bow and arrows against a tree a few feet away from them. They were probably in one of her checkpoints she had created to keep the wolves out.  
  
“I can't nap, Allison. We need to keep working.”  
  
Allison's eyes were full of concern but the girl didn't comment further on the matter. “Okay. What else do I have to do?”  
  
“Just collect those ingredients, my grandmother seemed to favour magic during the moon so it's best to follow her footsteps.”  
  
“Midnight then.” Allison replied.  
  
“Precisely.”  
  
“When?”  
  
“Can you get all of those in two days?” She would have suggested the next day, but the ritual calls for some candles and finding a place in town would be hard enough without the time restraint.  
  
“Not a problem.”  
  
“So Friday night?” Allison asked.  
  
“Friday night.” Lydia hesitated briefly. “But there's a chance that it might take a lot out of me, providing it goes well...”  
  
“We'll do it close to the tree house. You can stay there the night.”  
  
Lydia smiled brightly. “I appreciate that.”  
  
“It is honestly the least I could do.” Allison replied.  
  
  
They hugged again when Lydia left Allison later on that evening. It was also the first night Lydia slept properly, reassured by the progress that they were making to get Allison out of there.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I spent so long thinking I was the hero of this story, the protector of innocents...” Allison said. “I didn't realise that it was I who needed to be saved.”

 

  
“Why are we buying white candles?” Danny asked quietly, holding a dozen of said candles in his arms.  
  
“White is pure and bright.” Lydia murmured, debating over what colour rope to use to bind the spell to. “Brings light to the darkness.”  
  
“Okay... And if the shop owner asks?”  
  
“I don't know, romantic orgy?”  
  
Danny sighs heavily as Lydia picks out a dark green for them both.  
  
“You spend too much time with Jackson.”  
  
“I know, it's awful.” Lydia replied, walking them both towards the counter and smiling brightly at the woman waiting. As she's packing the candles into a bag Danny leans forward again.  
  
“Seriously though, why these?”  
  
“There needs to be some burning of dried herbs and stuff, white candles are purifiers.”  
  
“Do you even have dried herbs?” Danny asked  
  
“Turns out Allison knows a spot where they grow and she dries them herself.” Lydia hands the woman the money and takes the bag from her and pushes it into Danny's hands. “She needs to make pigeon taste as good as she can after all.”  
  
“God... You need to get some pizza for that girl...” Danny replied.  
  
As they leave, Danny complaining about the weight of the candles as Lydia walks out of the building, she walks directly into somebody.  
  
“And why twelve? I feel like this is too many can-” Danny's words freeze as he walks into Lydia and sees who's standing in front of them.  
  
“Miss Martin.” Deaton greeted. “What are you doing here?” He peers over at Danny and eyes the contents of his bag. “And why do you have so many candles?”  
  
“Romantic orgy.” Danny blurted out.  
  
“Excuse us, Deaton. We'll be late to school if we don't leave.”  
  
Deaton smiles slightly and steps to one side. “Of course, you two have a good day.”  
Lydia and Danny share a look and hurry to Lydia's car.  
  
“So he knows you're up to something.” Danny stated bluntly.  
  
“Yep.”  
  
“He's probably going to try and kill you.”  
  
“Danny stop. Not helping.”

“I'm just saying, it's a good thing you're staying with Allison tonight, she can protect you.”  
  
“In the forest? Where he has magic?”  
  
“In the forest where she's lived for twenty years and knows as well as the back of her hand. The playing field might fall slightly more in her favour.”  
  
Lydia frowned as she started the car. “We'll just go ahead and hope that it won't come to _that_.” She replied.  
  
  
  
Jackson dropped into the seat in front of Lydia and turned to her quickly, a familiar look in his eyes as he leant closer.  
  
“I have gossip.”  
  
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “Lets hear it.”  
  
“Stilinski and McCall are going to the forest, next week.”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“To find what’s his name-”  
  
“Isaac.” Danny chimed in as he sat in the seat opposite.  
  
“Isaac, right. They seem to think he's alive.”  
  
“He is, but he's a werewolf who wants to kill people.”  
  
“So he can't be saved?”  
  
“He clawed Allison.”  
  
“So that's a no...”  
  
“Are all werewolves evil?” Danny asked.  
  
“No! No, it's just... The alpha of this pack is, I don't know if he was before the fire or what, but he is now. And he turns people and they just seem to go kinda feral, not to mention the alpha is only one who can go back to human form.”  
  
“Have you seen one?”  
  
“Not yet.”  
  
“Either way,” Jackson's voice drops as Scott and Stiles enter the room. “You might want to warn your girlfriend before they become snacks for the wolves.”  
  
  
  
  
Lydia pays for both pizzas and hands one to Jackson.  
  
“So you both know the plan?” She asks.  
  
“If your mother calls, you're in the bathroom.” He replied, already opening the box.  
  
“And?”  
  
“If you don't call by midday tomorrow you're probably dead and we should mourn your death accordingly.”  
  
“Close enough.” She turned to Danny. “You ready?”  
  
He grabbed his keys. “Do you have everything you need?”  
  
Lydia runs over the check-list in her mind twice and nods.  
  
“Lets go then.”  
  
“Good, before this pizza gets cold.”

  
  
“So that's her?” He asks as she climbs from the car. With the headlights Lydia can just about make out Allison's form against the trees.  
  
“That's her. If I don't die tonight, you and Jackson should come and meet her.” She moved to the back of the car and opened the trunk, pulling out her overnight bag.  
  
“Thanks for the ride Danny.”  
  
“Any time.” He replied. “Lydia!”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Stay safe okay?”  
  
“I will.” She smiled.  
  
  
  
Danny didn't drive away until she was face to face with Allison, who took her bag and the pizza box from her and in return gave her a flash light.  
  
“Excited?” Allison asked.  
  
“Nervous.”  
  
“You'll be fine.” Allison replied, slowing so Lydia could keep by her side “But I think we should head to a circle to eat this.” Allison shook the pizza box slightly, no doubt unhappy about her hands being taken while they're walking in darkening forest.  
  
“Are you excited?” Lydia asked. “Your first pizza in twenty years. Big deal.”  
  
Allison laughed. “Not quite on the same level as first time attempting magic, is it?”  
  
“Perhaps not. But that doesn't make it any less significant.”  
  
Allison laughed again, ducking her head slightly.  
  
“I need to tell you, before I forget.” Lydia started suddenly, remembering Jackson's words from school. “That druids kid, Stiles? Him and his best friend are planning on coming in here next week to look for Isaac.”  
  
“Is there anything you can do to stop them?” Allison asked.  
  
“I'm sure me, Jackson and Danny can figure something out.”  
  
“Because they haven't killed for a while and they're going to want to make Isaac experience his first kill.” Allison explained as she came to a stop.  
  
“We'll do what we can.” Lydia replied. Setting the flash light down beside her as she sat down. “Now dig in.”  
  


“That was amazing.” Allison declared, staring at the now empty pizza box. “I've missed pizza so much.”  
  
“I'm glad you enjoyed it.” Lydia beamed, it was dark now and she had turned the flash light on so that she could actually make out Allison's expressions. She didn't have night vision like Allison did. “When I get you out of here I’ll take you to the diner near Danny's, you'll probably love the cheeseburgers there.”  
  
“I don't doubt that I will.” Allison grinned, getting to her feet.  
  
“Are we heading to your tree house?”  
  
Allison grabbed Lydia's bags and made a sound of confirmation. “There's a clearing not far from it that I circled with mountain ash, should give us a good sight of the moon.”  
  
Lydia took Allison's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. “Lead the way.”  
  
  
  
Allison sat patiently as Lydia gathered the ingredients together. Lydia tied the crows feathers to the sage and lemon grass, binding them together with the two pieces of green rope she had brought. Lydia could just make out the confusion in Allison's face as she worked. Around them, Lydia had made a pattern from the candles, a small offering beside each one, seeds from the trees, fruit from the bushes, life from the air, water and land. She followed her grandmothers instructions to the letter, checking everything over until she was sure that there was no room for error.  
Finally, she took a long breath, rooted herself to the moment and let her gaze drift to Allison.  
  
“Are you ready?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Are you?”  
  
“I guess we'll find out.”  
  
She offered Allison a lighter and used her own to light the three candles close to her while Allison twisted to get the two by her.  
Lydia lit the candle between them and placed the lighter just outside the circle, Allison did the same.  
  
“Give me your hands.” Lydia said quietly.  
  
She had already talked Allison through what would happen during this, what to expect and to follow her lead. Allison held her hands out on either side of the candle, palms flat and Lydia held onto them carefully.  
She glanced up at the moon and took another breath before she started to recite, the Latin rolling over her tongue with ease. She had told Allison this part too, that if she were to do the spell in English it wouldn't work, it would lose it's power, not only that, it would no longer make complete sense. But she had explained it all to Allison. Broken it down into the fact that the two of them were basically calling upon the magic and the Earth to gift them with the ability to see what was once hidden. That the sacrifices of the animals and offerings of the fruit are payment for this gift and that with the moon as witness, they vow to honour the gift.  
Allison's eyes refuse to leave her own, not even when the flames around them begin to burn brighter. Lydia feels the air around them grow thick with energy as she speaks, a pressure rising in her chest and through her body up until it reaches the very tips of her fingers. She does see Allison's shoulders tense, maybe even hears a sharp breath. As Lydia comes towards the end of the spell, she nods slightly at Allison and they move in sync to grab the tied bundle waiting beside the candle in the centre. Their fingers are brushing as they move it over the flame but Lydia can't allow her mind to wander, she needs to keep her thoughts and intentions clear as she finishes the spell.  
The bundle in their hand catches and bursts into a bright green flame as Lydia finishes the final word, Allison's eyes go wide and it's only Lydia's touch that seems to keep her from flinching away, the flames mould and twist into a dark smoke as everything else falls away, the candle underneath going out and with it, Lydia slumps forward slightly, feeling the buzzing in her skin grow stronger and then stopping suddenly.  
Allison shares a look with Lydia and both of their gazes drop to their hands, more specifically, the two strands of rope they're both clenching tightly.  
Allison looks afraid to say anything, scared that it would disturb whatever energy this is hovering around them.  
Lydia lets herself relax and moves her hand away from Allison's.  
  
“I think It worked.” She replied, studying the rope in the candlelight.

“That was...” Allison began, eyes still wide. She shook her head. “That was incredible. You can do magic. You're a spark.”  
  
“Is that what they call it?”  
  
“It's one of the names I've heard thrown around.”  
  
Lydia leans forward to tie the rope in her hand around Allison's wrist. “It sounds much better than magic user I suppose.”  
  
Allison grins and does the same to Lydia, securing It around her wrist.  
  
“The hunter and the spark.”  
  
Lydia turns away from Allison to focus on putting out the candles, thankful that the dark can hide her blush. “Does this mean you're going to stop calling me Red?”  
  
“Afraid not. You walked into a forest dressed like modern red riding hood. You're stuck with that name now I’m afraid.”  
  
Lydia sighed and moved to stand, alarmed when she felt her legs buckle and her sight spin, Allison was at her side immediately, arm around her side to support her weight.  
  
“Easy, easy.” Allison muttered quietly, easing them both to the ground, Lydia grabbed a fist full of Allison's shirt as she tried to gain her balance.  
  
“I guess that took a lot more out of me than I thought.” Lydia replied.  
  
Allison walks her towards a tree and sets her down gently, pressing the canteen of water into her hand a moment later.  
  
“Drink. I'll pack everything away.”  
  
Lydia listens to her, drinking just enough to push back the headache she can feel beginning to build. She doesn't know for sure what the bathroom situation is going to be but she can take a pretty good guess and it is not something she wants to experience tonight thank you.  
She looks at the sky while Allison is packing, awestruck at how clear it is, how the sky is filled with stars.  
It's beautiful.

  
  
“Ready to go?” Allison asks a few minutes later. Lydia nods and lets Allison take care of her, pulling her to her feet and supporting her weight.  
  
Allison does eventually explain the bathroom situation but Lydia assures her that won't be a problem, not right now at least.  
Allison grows quiet as Lydia talks about the stars, the only sign Lydia has that she's listening is by the way her thumb will rub a circle against her wrist and how she'll look up to try and seek out the constellation Lydia is talking about.

  
  
By the time they reach the tree house, Lydia no longer feels like her head is swimming and she can probably walk without Allison's assistance but honestly having the added warmth of the girl against her is comforting on a whole new level.  
But Lydia has to stop and stare because.... Wow.  
She wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting, it's not like Lydia has much experience in the art of a tree house. But this? She wasn't expecting this.  
Allison had practically built a house around a tree, the trunk going straight through the centre. It wasn't too big but it certainly looked comfortable and-  
  
“Is that a balcony?!” Lydia asked.  
  
“More of a viewpoint.” Allison replied with a laugh. “But yes, I suppose it is.”  
  
“You impress me more each day hunter.”  
  
“High praise, coming from a spark.” Allison smiled. “It probably looks better in the daylight.”  
  
“I don't doubt that it does. It's safe from wolves?”  
  
“Wolfsbane surrounds the area along with a circle of mountain ash. Some of the wood is made of mountain ash and it's all the outer wood is varnished with wolfsbane oil... So... Don't lick the wood unless you want mildly terrifying hallucinations.”  
  
“That isn't entirely reassuring.”  
  
“You'll be fine.” Allison laughed. “Can you climb the ladder?” She gestured towards the ladder that would lead them up onto a bridge and eventually to the front door. “I'll carry everything.”  
  
“I'll be fine.”  
  
  
She wasn't fine. By the time she had gotten into the fucking house she couldn't see a thing and had to just kind of walk forward and hope not to trip while Allison climbed up behind her.  
She could hear Allison move around and eventually the room began to light up as Allison turned on the lanterns.  
  
“Thank you for these.” Allison said as she moved around to light each one. “They're a lot safer than the gas ones I had.”  
  
“You're welcome...” Lydia replied, eyes fixed on the room and holy _shit_ Allison was amazing. The room was much larger on the inside than Lydia expected, even with a tree practically in the centre of it all.

In the far left corner was what appeared to be the kitchen, complete with jars of dried herbs and a space for where Allison presumably dried them, there were more knives there too, obviously more specified for cutting meat with than for killing like the one strapped to her thigh was. To her right there was a chair, an honest to God chair that Allison must have actually carved from wood and it was pushed towards a window (complete with shutters) beside that was a small table and on it, was another one of the battery operated lanterns Lydia had given her and the hunger games trilogy.  
Lydia moved further into the room, placing a hand against the tree trunk and staring at Allison's bed. The frame, again, was obviously made by Allison, there were mountain lion pelts covering it and Lydia was just thankful that Allison had the good sense not to leave the poor bastards head on after she skinned it and a sleeping bag rested on top of that.  
  
“I know it's not much...”  
  
“Allison this place is amazing.” Lydia cut her off. “You _made_ all of this.”  
  
“Well, most of it.”  
  
“Still. It's beautiful.”  
  
Allison blushed and rubbed at the back of her head. “You can take the bed, I'll curl up in the chair.”  
  
“What? No. I can't kick you out of your own bed...” Lydia frowned. “You're already doing enough by letting me stay here.”  
  
“You're freeing me from a twenty year curse. I think I can let you sleep in my bed for a night.” Allison frowned slightly. “You might find it a little uncomfortable. There's a lot of padding between the frame and you but...”  
  
“It'll be fine.” Lydia walks over to where Allison had placed her bags and began to unpack, pulling out a sleeping bag and a pillow. She glanced back at the bed, it wasn't huge but... “Hey, if we unzip the sleeping bags can we just use yours as an extra layer and mine as a blanket?”  
  
Allison's eyes widen as she looks from Lydia to the bed. “I mean, I guess but...”  
  
“Good.” Lydia pushes her sleeping bag and pillow into Allison's arms. “Where can I brush my teeth and get changed?”  
  
Allison points out where Lydia can get changed and goes towards the bed.  
  
  
Allison seemed to be pointedly avoiding Lydia's gaze when she walked back over to her five minutes later, dressed in an old t-shirt of Danny's and a pair of sleep shorts. Allison was in the tank top, shorts combo Lydia had picked up for her.  
Lydia had the passing thought of how much fun it'll be to take Allison clothes shopping for a whole wardrobe when she's finally free of this place.  
  
“Do you need any of the lanterns on?” Allison asks, gesturing around the room. She's moved the table closer to the bed and left the lantern within arms reach. Lydia shakes her head and Allison moves around the room to switch them off, the room steadily falling into darkness and Lydia climbs onto the bed, surprised at how comfortable it actually is. She settles at the edge of the bed so that Allison can have the space against the wall and it's only when Allison looks at her does she realise that it might be a little awkward...  
  
Until Allison braces on hand against the wall and honest to god jumps over her and onto the bed before settling down beside her.  
  
“If I get too close or anything, just kick me.” She says, tugging the sleeping bag up over them.  
  
“Likewise.” Lydia replied, reaching over with one hand to turn off the lantern.  
  
“Goodnight Allison.”  
  
“Night, Red.”  
  
  
At some point, Lydia wakes up on her side, she's confused, disoriented and it takes a moment for Lydia to recognise her surroundings and a moment later to register the warm weight draped over her waist, the warm breath against the back of her neck.  
Allison.  
It's warm, comforting and just... Nice.  
Still half asleep, Lydia feels herself smile, leaning back into Allison and letting herself drift back into a peaceful sleep.  
  


The next time Lydia wakes, the space behind her was empty and cold. She sat up slowly and looked around the room, not really surprised that Allison wasn't there. Lydia got up and tied her hair into a loose bun to get changed. As she's pulling on a sweater to fight off the chill of the early morning, she turns to see Allison on the balcony outside, leaning against it and looking thoughtful as she stares into the cup in her hands. Lydia hugs her arms to her chest and heads outside.  
  
“Good morning.” Allison greets as soon as she steps out. “Can I get you anything?”  
  
“Good morning. And no, I’m fine, thank you.”  
  
Allison turns her head towards Lydia. “You sure?”  
  
“I'm sure. But I’m probably going to have to buy you some coffee or something.”  
  
Allison smiled, Lydia took in the girls slightly dishevelled appearance, her sleep mussed hair and decided that this would be a sight she wouldn't really mind waking up to each morning.  
  
“You'll break the curse on the hunters moon won't you?” Allison asked.  
  
Lydia leant against the wood beside her. “It has a stronger chance of working.”  
  
“But the thing is... How can a curse stay active for twenty years?”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Well... It's like how all curses have a fail safe, like you said. So would the intent of the curse be enough to power it? Or would it need more?”

“More what?”  
  
Allison shook her head. “I don't know. I'm not the expert on the affairs of magic.”  
  
“I'm going to figure it out, don't worry.” Lydia bumped their shoulders together.  
  
“I believe you.”

 

Lydia stays for a few hours after that, drifting back into an easy conversation, she was keen to quiz Allison more on her wood carving, wondering why there weren't more ornate items in her home.  
Allison had gone on to talk In depth about building the tree house, especially with her limited tools that left her needing to find more... untested methods to get job done. And okay, Lydia zoned out for a little while at some point, but in her defence that was only to picture a very sweaty Allison with all those muscles building a fucking tree house.

She idly wondered if Allison is strong enough to lift Lydia.  
  
  
  
When it was time to leave, Allison escorted Lydia to the edge of the forest so that Lydia could step out to call Danny to request a ride back to her car. Once that was done, Lydia moved back behind the trees to stay with Allison until he arrived.  
Allison was shifting from one foot to the other, looking cold in just her t-shirt and jeans. Lydia wanted to ask, she couldn't understand why Allison would go without her fathers jacket but forced herself to remain silent on the off chance that something had happened to it. She didn't wish to make Allison sad right before Lydia was due to leave.  
  
“You should wear that red coat more.” Allison announced suddenly, her mind apparently also a similar topic.  
  
“And get more little red riding hood jokes? No thank you.”  
  
“I'm going to call you Red regardless.” Allison replied, crossing her arms and leaning back against a tree. “But you should wear it.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because, it's a lovely coat and you look beautiful when you wear it.” A flash of worry passed over Allison's face. “Not that you don't look beautiful without it. I'm just saying...”  
  
Lydia blinked at Allison, feeling a small blush rising. “Thank you. Maybe I will.”  
  
Allison nodded and looked out past the trees. “Your friend is here.”  
  
Lydia followed her gaze, seeing Jackson drive up, Danny must have sent him, and sighed. She hadn't expected him to get there so fast.  
  
“I should be going then.” Lydia sighed. “Tomorrow? I'll even bring coffee.”  
  
Allison laughed, dimples flashing. “Tomorrow.”

Lydia moved in for a quick hug, just enough to feel the cold from Allison's body seep through her.  
  
She was buying her a new jacket.

“I'll see you tomorrow Allison.”  
  
“Before you go.” Allison held onto Lydia's wrist and reached into her bag with her other hand. “I made this, for you.”  
  
Lydia stared at the wooden carving that sat neatly in Allison's palm, suddenly remembering the block of wood she had seen Allison with on occasion.  
  
It was a wolf, sat with it's head thrown back into a howl. Lydia took it tentatively, running her fingers and noting the smallest of details Allison had painstakingly carved into it.  
  
“A wolf for my little Red.” Allison shrugged.  
  
Jackson hit the horn of the car, effectively ruining what moment the two were sharing and Lydia vowed to get him back as soon as they were out of sight.  
  
“Thank you Allison... It's beautiful.”  
  
“It doesn't make up for all the clothes and supplies you brought me but-”  
  
Lydia cut her off by rising up onto the balls of her feet and pressing a quick kiss to Allison's jaw, not her intended target but it felt all the more significant when she felt her lips brush against the skin underneath the cut the alpha had left.  
  
“I love it. Thank you Allison.” Another beep of the horn. Lydia was going to shove the fucking thing up his ass. “I need to go, I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”  
  
Allison nodded slowly, looking dazed and for a moment Lydia was terrified she had ruined everything but then Allison was smiling and all of her worry melted away.  
  
“Tomorrow.”

 

Lydia was far too happy to stay mad at Jackson.

 

 

It's been three days.  
  
Three days of Lydia making Danny and Jackson essentially stalk Scott and Stiles.  
Three days of Lydia trying to figure out the curse.  
Three days of Allison standing too close, always touching in some way whenever they walk or sit together.

Nothing has really changed since Lydia's impromptu kiss, but she can't ignore how everything feels so much more.... Alive.  
  
“Maybe it's the magic.” Danny suggests as they walk to class. “You've finally found your- spark?”  
  
“That's what Allison calls it.”  
  
Danny lets his voice drop so that it easily slips under the chorus of noise in the hallway. “Have you been practising?”  
  
“A little, I don't want to do too much when I have no anchor.”  
  
Danny scoffs. “You have an anchor. Allison's your anchor.”  
  
“I don't think-”  
  
“An anchor is supposed to keep you rooted while you cast, right? Pull you back if you go too deep?”  
  
“...Yeah?”  
  
“Well Allison can do that for you, she doesn't need to be a spark. You just need to have a strong connection to her. And judging by that blush on your face, I’m going to go ahead and say that there's more than a connection.”  
  
“Nothing has happened.” Lydia replied.  
  
“Yet.”  
  
“Have you figured out if Scott and Stiles are still going into the forest?”  
  
“According to our totally legally obtained information, the sheriff is going to a conference on Friday. He'll be gone from Friday until Sunday night.”  
  
“So... Friday?”  
  
“Mrs McCall is covering my moms shift at the hospital on Saturday night.  
  
“So they're going to go when their parents aren't around.” Lydia sighed. “Of course it would be on a Saturday. They could literally get away with going at any time. Allison isn't going to be able to patrol all day...”  
  
“What if we helped?” Danny asked. They came to a stop at her locker.  
  
Lydia shook her head. “It wouldn't work, it'd just be putting us in danger and giving Allison more to worry about.” Lydia opened her locker and she could practically feel Danny frown at the box she had put there when she had gotten to school that morning.  
  
“What's in the box?”  
  
“It's a new jacket, for Allison.” Lydia grabbed the book she needed for their next class. “Something happened to her old one and it's getting colder.”  
  
She didn't need to look at Danny to know he was grinning at her either, but she did it anyway.  
  
“You're so in love with her.”  
  
“Shut up.”  
  
“Why are we shutting up?” Jackson asked, coming to a stop and looking between Danny and Lydia.  
  
“Lydia brought Allison a new jacket because it's cold.”  
  
Jackson grinned. “You're so in love. It's sickening.”  
  
Lydia shoved at Jackson's shoulder. “You're an asshole.”  
  
“So I’ve been told.” He glanced at her coat and she swears his grin gets bigger. “And you're wearing the coat she said makes you look beautiful.”  
  
“I regret telling you that.”  
  
“Hey guys, Stiles' mom was one of the druids who did the curse right?” Danny asked.  
  
“Yeah?” Jackson nodded.  
  
“So... Would that make Stiles a spark?”  
  
Lydia stared at Danny, wondering why none of them had come to this conclusion sooner and mentally cursing herself for overlooking such a key feature. Lydia slammed her locker shut.  
  
“If he goes into the forest he might figure it out.” She replied.  
  
Danny nodded solemnly. “You might want to mention that to Allison when you see her.”

  


“Well shit...” Allison frowned as they walked together later on that day.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“But... He won't know unless he tries to do anything, right? You didn't even know you could until you did that spell.”  
  
“And touched the stump.” Lydia added. “That gave a definite magical vibe.”  
  
“To be expected as it is the source of magic, Red.”  
  
“You know what I mean!” Lydia elbowed Allison.  
  
“Of course I do.” Allison smiled, hands folded behind her magic as she walked happily. “And don't think I haven't noticed what you're wearing, Little Red Riding Hood.”  
  
“You are aware that there is no other similarities between us and that story right?”  
  
“Then we make our own story.” Allison replied with a shrug. “The hunter can't have been that good if the only way he could beat the wolf was after he ate the granny and Red Riding Hood.”  
  
Lydia watched the thoughtful expression on Allison's face as they walked, the way Allison finally seemed at ease- still prepared for a battle at a moments notice, but finally relaxed enough around Lydia that there was no imminent worry. It was the moments like this that Lydia forgot about the wolves and the curse.  
  
“Aren't you to ask about the box?”  
  
“I was.” Allison nodded. “But then you told me about the Stilinski boy and I got sidetracked.” She turned her head to Lydia and smiled. “What's in the box?”  
  
Lydia held it out. “Find out.”

Allison took the box from her and looked around their surroundings before she knelt down on the ground, placing the box down in front of her and pulling the lid off of it. Allison reached in and pulled the jacket out carefully.  
  
“Is this...”  
  
“Real leather.”  
  
“Red...” Allison looked up at her with wide eyes.  
  
“Try it on.” Lydia urged.  
  
Allison hesitated for a moment before she slipped her bow off of her back and pulled the jacket on carefully. She stood up and Lydia stepped closer to fix the collar. It was a perfect fit.  
  
“You have this James Dean kind of vibe. Like if him and Alex Turner had a daughter-”  
  
“I don't know who that last one is.”  
  
“He's a singer, you'll like him.” Lydia answered quickly. She smoothed her hands over Allison's shoulders and down her biceps before pulling away altogether and reaching for Allison's bow. “When you wear those white t-shirts and push your hair back, all you were missing was a leather jacket and a motorcycle.”  
  
“I did always want a motorcycle.” Allison admitted, taking her bow back from Lydia and slinging it over her shoulder. “But why?”  
  
“You haven't been wearing your other jacket and you always look cold when we're together.”  
  
Allison traces her fingers over the leather, Lydia knows that it's probably not as warm as her fathers jacket was, but now Allison is dressed in clothes that all belong to her. She may not have chosen them herself but they were still brought for her. The combat boots, skinny jeans and t-shirt combo looked great but with the addition of the jacket... It's like Lydia is staring at a whole person for this first time.  
  
“Thank you.” Allison whispered. She held her hand out. “Walk with me?”  
  
“Always.” Lydia replied, her hand finding Allison's immediately.  
  
  
  
They walk in silence, Allison's hand holding her own tightly. Lydia knew they hadn't been this deep into this part of the forest before, they had gone past the lake and were heading in a completely different direction than where the stump was. On occasion Allison would pause to silently point out a bird flying, squirrels running across the ground mere inches away from them as they gather food for the winter. Lydia is more partial to the colours of the leaves as they grow closer to falling. It's the first time Lydia has been able to really experience this season and she's thankful to Allison for letting her see it this close.  
  
“So...” Lydia began, clearing her throat as Allison sips from her canteen, shaking her head when Allison offers it to her. “Your story, how would it go?” Lydia asked.  
  
“My...” Allison trailed off as she remembers their conversation from earlier and once more that bright smile is back. She lets go of Lydia's hand and damn near skips a few steps ahead and turns back to Lydia. She tips her head back up at the sky.  
“Once upon a time...” She stopped when Lydia laughed. “Don't laugh! You know this Is how they start.”  
  
Lydia held her hands up in surrender. “I'm sorry, continue.”  
  
Allison huffed. “Once upon a time, there was a young girl whose beauty caught the eye of all those who dared look upon her.” Allison's hands balled into fists and she hid them in the pockets of her jacket when she realised Lydia was looking. “The young girl wore a red coat that complemented her hair and features so well, that she was often known as 'Red.'”  
  
“You're literally the only one to call me that...” Lydia mumbled.  
  
“Whose story is this?”  
  
“I'm sorry, continue.”  
  
Allison gave a small nod and began to walk slowly, weaving around the trees but never really leaving Lydia's sight. Lydia followed and mirrored her movements as best she could.  
  
“One day, Red wandered into the cursed forest, despite many warning of the dangers that lurk within. It was there that Red met a hunter.” Allison stopped for a moment, hand against the nearest tree, eyes cast downwards at the roots.“The hunter was a cursed and lonely soul... Cursed to live a life in exile from the rest of the world. But the hunter persisted, she tried to protect the other souls who found their way into the forest and when she met Red...” Allison gave a silent laugh and pushed away from the tree and began to walk again. “When she met Red, she took it upon herself to protect the girl from the wolves, leading her to safety and sending her on her way to live her life.” Allison turned away from Lydia and Lydia had to strain to hear her continue speaking. “But Red returned. Returned with questions and wide eyes and no matter what the hunter did... Red wouldn't leave, at least not for long. So the hunter continued with her promise. To protect. But as the days passed, and the young girl still hadn't left, the hunter began to realise that perhaps, it wasn't the young girl who needed to be saved. That maybe, in this tale, the hunter was the one in need.” Allison grew silent for a few moments and Lydia was too speechless to fill the space left behind. “Together, along with allies of the young girl, they began to unearth the mysteries of the forest, that the young girl was a spark, shining bright through all of the darkness. The hunter realised that her exile had destroyed her youth, her optimism, and had grown cold and distant in her time but she felt the dark roots that had taken hold of her heart begin to peel away. She gave gifts to the young girl, trinkets that she had held from a life long past or from a skill she had learnt and in return, the young girl would do the same.” Allison swallowed, beginning to look unsure and taking a step back when Lydia began to move closer. She took a deep breath and pulled her hands from her pockets, still clenched into fists, and matched Lydia's movements, walking closer. “But there was one gift amongst all others that meant more to the hunter than anything else she had ever known.” They were so close now, Lydia could see the rise and fall of Allison's chest, the tension in her shoulders. “That gift... Was hope.”

“...Allison.” Lydia breathed.

She couldn't find the words she needed, she didn't know how to describe to Allison the way her heart was racing, how it would always beat this way when Allison would look at her like this, how before she met Allison, she never truly understand the beauty of brown eyes or how they would shine like gold when the sun hit them just right. How she never cared much for nature until Allison took the time to show it to her and how Lydia would be content to wake up in that tree house every day until the end of her days.  
Allison was just staring at her, there were no words left to say, Allison had spoken them all and Lydia had heard her clearly. The hunter reached up and brushed her knuckles along Lydia's cheek, thumb stroking along the bone until she opened her fist so that she could cup the side of Lydia's face.

“Lydia,” Allison began, her voice just barely above a whisper.

Lydia didn't give her the chance to finish whatever it was she had been about to say. She pushed herself up onto the balls of her feet and caught Allison's lips with her own.  
If this were a movie, Lydia would be hearing the music reach it's crescendo. Finally, _finally_ , the protagonist kisses their love. Everything would fall into place and life would finally make sense. And as much as Lydia loves those movies, she always had to scoff at those moments.  
She owes them an apology.

Allison didn't kiss back immediately, Lydia feels the way the hand on her cheek tenses but the second Lydia winds her arms around Allison's neck, it seems to kick the brunette into gear. Her other hand comes up to cup Lydia's other cheek and kisses back slowly, holding Lydia delicately, as though she were something fragile.

It's Allison who breaks the kiss, moving back just enough to brush their noses together before adjusting the angle to brush their noses together and just letting herself go back for one more brief brush of lips. Lydia resists the urge to press forward for more.

“That was...”

“I know.” Lydia replied, because she _did._ She had never felt so much from a simple kiss.

Maybe they weren't wrong about true loves kiss.  
Allison let her hands fall from Lydia's cheeks though Lydia remained where she was, reluctant to move away so soon. They were still close enough that Lydia really could kiss Allison again should she want to, and God, does she want to.

“I spent so long thinking I was the hero of this story, the protector of innocents...” Allison said. “I didn't realise that it was I who needed to be saved.”

“Let me keep you.” Lydia whispered, taking the chance and leaning in close, her arms around Allison's neck tighten.

“You can have me.” Allison replied.

“Forever?”

“Forever.” Allison nodded. “The hunter and the spark.”

Lydia kissed her again, forcing herself to keep it slow, to memorise the how soft Allison's lips are and how everything finally feels right.

“But of course...” A voice begins and it's enough to have Allison wrenching herself from Lydia's hold, spinning and positioning herself between Lydia and the voice before Lydia can be fully aware as to what's going on. Lydia holds onto the arm Allison is currently holding her back with and stares at the man and his slicked back hair, wolfish grin.

 _Wolfish grin_.

“A tempting beauty such as Red would ultimately act as the downfall for the hunter.” He leers, walking closer as Allison pushes Lydia and forces them both backwards.

“Peter.” Allison grits the name out like it's poison on her lips.

“Now now, Allison. We're old friends-”

“Step any closer and I’ll put an arrow through your throat.”

Allison's words are cold, dangerous. Lydia doesn't know what to think.

Peter laughs. “Do you think you can protect her and kill me?”

“I _know_ I can protect her.” Allison pushes Lydia back but she stays in place. “As for killing you? I'm willing to take my chances.”

“Allison-” Lydia moved to step forward.”

“Stay there.” Allison snapped. Lydia froze and looked down, looking for the signs that this was one of Allison's circles. She found her confirmation in the dirt, the slightest change in colour to show her that there was mountain ash around her.

“She can't stay in there forever.”

“She doesn't have to.” Allison unsheathed the knife from her thigh. “Just long enough for me to deal with you.”

Lydia couldn't help the gasp that slipped from her lips as Peter's eyes flashed red, his lips curling up in a snarl. Allison shifted her position, holding the knife In her right hand and shifting her body sideways. More snarls join Peter's.  
  
“Did you think I would come alone?” He asked through a grin, teeth definitely sharper and longer.  
  
Lydia counts at least four wolves drift out from behind the trees.

“You've taken a lot of my betas, Allison. The least you can do is gift me one back.” Peter sniffs the air. “Of course... She's one of those... What did you call it? Sparks? Shame.” He looks past Allison. “You would have made a good wolf. But you'll make a good meal instead.”  


The moment he starts to move Is when Allison strikes, the knife flies from her hand, moving blindingly fast and burying itself in Peter's shoulder. The other wolves lunge and Lydia is speechless at how Allison spins, shrugging off the bow and her jacket, throwing the leather in Lydia's direction and firing three arrows at a speed that really shouldn't be human and using her bow to block and push back the fourth wolf when it makes a move for her.  
Allison pulls more arrows from her quiver, holding them in her hand and using a technique Lydia has never seen before. The way Allison holds all four arrows in one hand and still manages to fire with enough force for them to find their marks. 

“Allison! Behind you!” Lydia yelled.

Allison turned just as the wolf with the gold eyes pounced, pinning her to the ground, Allison's hands at it's throat to stop it from tearing out her own.

“Don't. Move!” Allison managed to bark out as Lydia moved to take a step towards her. Allison managed to shove at the wolf and free up enough space to grab one of her fallen arrows, plunging into the side of the wolfs head with a sickening crunch. It's body goes limp almost immediately and Allison shoves it to one side and scrambles to her feet. Peter springs forward and grabs her by the throat and throws her just short of the mountain ash.

“Such a shame.” He sighs, kicking at the wolf with his foot. “Never even got to see his first kill.”

Allison gets to her feet quickly and Lydia has the sense of mind to throw her knife for her, Allison catches it easily and nods her thanks.

“This is going to cause problems.” Peter mumbled.

“I don't pity you.” Allison replied. Lydia wished she could just pull Allison into the safety of the circle, wished that she knew _why_ Allison wouldn't go in. She knew that she had to respect Allison's choices. Allison knows what she's doing and Lydia can't interfere with this.  
  
This is Allison's battle.  
  
Peter moved forward, eyes flashing and claws out as he slashed at Allison, it turned into a dance of sorts, Allison deflecting his blows while trying to land her own and moving around him with an elegance only she could manage. The other wolves were hovering nearby, nursing their wounds- they must be treated with wolfsbane, and watching the fight between Allison and their alpha go on.  
Then it hit her.  
They won't retreat until Peter does.  
Allison needs to stop Peter so that they're safe.

Lydia doesn't think. She pulls the necklace from around her neck and uncorks it, emptying the contents into the palm of her hand and storming over the line.  
  
“Hey!” She yells, gaining Peters attention. The second he looks at her, she blows the powder, watching as the purple clings to his face, he slashes out as he howls in agony, Allison stumbles back with a curse and Lydia hooks her arms around Allison's waist to pull her back over the line and to safety, both of them hitting the ground hard.  
  
Lydia doesn't dare move, Allison's eyes are wide as she stares at Lydia, the pained cries of Peter fading into the trees.

  
Eventually, Allison sits up and looks around and Lydia can physically _see_ the tension leave her body.  
  
“They're gone.”  
  
Lydia knocks Allison to the ground as she dives at her, hugging her tight.  
  
“I can't lose you, I only just got you.”  
  
“I'm sorry.” Allison whispered. “I let my guard down.”  
  
Lydia pulls back, hands braced on either side of Allison's face. “Don't you dare apologise. That was amazing. You're amazing.” her eyes drift to some shallow cuts on Allison's arms. “And hurt.”  
  
“It's nothing.”  
  
“You're bleeding.”  
  
“Lydia...”  
  
Lydia sits up, Allison frowns a little but follows her.  
  
“You're using my name.”  
  
“I know when a situation calls for it.” Allison replied. “...And using a nickname helped me keep my feelings in check for you. Remain distant.” She turns her head slightly to rest her forehead against Lydia's shoulder, face hidden by her hair. “And Lydia is a beautiful name”  
  
Lydia rubs her hand over Allison's arm, wiping away the blood, they aren't that deep but...  
  
“Is this why you threw your jacket off?”  
  
“My fathers was damaged during the full moon. I didn't want the same to happen to this one.”  
  
“Allison, can I kiss you again?”  
  
Allison lifted her head and nodded, Lydia reached up to cup her jaw, stroking her thumb over her cut as she guides Allison's head forward to kiss her.  
  
“I will get you out of here.” Lydia breathed against her lips.  
  
“I believe you.”

 

They stay in the circle for a while longer, Lydia insisting that they don't leave until Allison's cuts are clean and safe. She eyes the wolfs body while Allison gathers her arrows, still unbelieving that beneath that form was Isaac Lahey. She knows that she should feel guilt at his death, remorse. But it was hard to feel remorse for someone who willingly accepted the bite, who tried to kill Allison.  
  
“What will you do to him?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Bury him, I guess.” Allison stood up from where she was cleaning her arrows. “In the past I’ve left them for the other wolves to deal with but...” Allison looks around. “I don't think they'll be returning any time soon. He was the newest member, the runt if you will. He never got the chance to establish himself.”  
  
“Does it get easier? The kill?”  
  
Allison stopped beside Lydia and looked at the wolf. “No. But I think that the day taking a life becomes easy is the day I know I’ve lost my humanity.”  
  
“It'll never come to that.”  
  
Alison smiled. “I guess not. But time will tell?”  
  
“You never finished your story you know.” Lydia replied, reaching for Allison's hand.  
“The alpha didn't give you a chance to finish.”  
  
“I don't know what happens next, Red. The story isn't over.”  
  
“Then I guess I had better break this curse so we can find out.”  


  
Allison is still on guard the entire walk to the edge of the forest, always poised for an attack, but the bright smile and sparkling eyes are huge tells to her feelings and Lydia just knows that her own happiness is reflected in her own expression. Allison holds her hand the entire walk back, listening intensely as Lydia explains to her in detail about the various dates she's going to have to drag Allison on and now she can finally hang out with Jackson and Danny and not have it feel like she's the occasional third wheel.  
It briefly occurs to her that after this, they're going to have to figure out what Allison is going to do, should they enrol her in school? Will she keep hunting? Try and track down her more distant relatives?  
There's so much that will need to be done but Lydia pushes that to one side for now, they only just kissed. There was no reason to panic over the future while Allison was still trapped inside a cursed forest.  
  
“I'll see you tomorrow.” Allison smiled, pushing a curl of Lydia's hair behind her ear.  
  
“Tomorrow.” Lydia promised, leaning up to to kiss her softly.  
  
Allison pulled away and walked over to where some wolfsbane was growing and picked them, turning to push them into her hands.  
  
“To replace the wolfsbane you used today.” She explained. “Which I never thanked you for. That was quick thinking.”  
  
“Thank you.” Lydia took the plant from her, holding It close. “Okay... I have to go.”  
  
Allison stole a kiss. “Until tomorrow.”  
  
  
Lydia couldn't stop smiling the entire journey home.  
  
  
She dreamt again that night, she couldn't believe that she thought she might get some respite from them.  
The howling was still present and for once, Lydia could see the flashing blue and red from between the trees, Lydia ignores them though. Somehow she knows Allison is nearby, watching and waiting for the moment Lydia needs her.  
She walks the familiar path to the stump, the roots bending away from her, cowering almost  
As Lydia approaches she feels moisture hitting her skin in thick droplets, Lydia looks to the sky and frowns as she is met with stars and a blood red moon instead of clouds.  
Lydia looks down to her bare arms and with a gasp she realises that it is not rain that stains her skin, but blood.  
Blood pours from the sky, staining the roots and stump of the tree, staining her skin and consuming them all.  
  
“Lydia...” Comes the quiet voice and Lydia turns, comes face to face with Allison, stained with blood and her confusion only grows.  
  
“Allison?”  
  
“Run.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

It had easily been the most unnerving of the dreams Lydia had had and the driving point that led her to finally tell Jackson and Danny about it and all of the dreams prior the next day at school.  
She doesn't really think she can blame their horrified expressions.  
  
“You get stranger every day.” Jackson said bluntly, pushing his lunch to one side with a frown. “Blood red moon? Shit, _raining_ blood?”  
  
“Creepy apparently somewhat sentient tree...” Danny added. “Are you having prophetic dreams?”  
  
Lydia stabbed at her own food with her fork and frowned. “What?”  
  
“Well you mentioned in one dream Allison had a cut on her jaw, and then a few days later she gets injured in the exact same way.” Danny shrugged.  
  
“Then what the fuck does the moon mean?”  
  
“The hunters moon, it gets the blood moon name because it has orange colour because of how close it is to the horizon, the harvest moon was the same but that's already happened...” Lydia explained.  
  
“But that's the night you're supposed to try and break the curse.”  
  
“So I’m aware.” Lydia sighed. “I can't miss that chance.”  
  
“Maybe the tree is trying to tell you blood is the fail safe, you need to give the tree blood and the curse will break?” Jackson suggested.  
  
“But whose blood?” Danny asked. “Deaton's?”  
  
“He did cast the curse.”  
  
“But so did Claudia...”  
  
“Then we use Stiles.”  
  
“We're not going to use blood sacrifices!” Danny flicked Jackson in the back of the head. He turned back to Lydia. “Unless that is the only way in which case lets just try not to kill anybody.”  
  
“I don't think a blood sacrifice would be the way... Unless...”  
  
Jackson and Danny shared a concerned look. “Unless?” Danny prompted.  
  
“It wants Allison's blood?” Lydia had to swallow the lump in her throat. “The curse was to trap the Argent's and she's the only one left so...”  
  
“She dies the curse breaks.” Danny finished.  
  
“Or bleed, she isn't dying otherwise that curse can stay.” Lydia pushed her lunch away.  
  
“So we're just going to go ahead and shelf the blood sacrifice plan?” Jackson asked.  
  
“Definitely.” Lydia nodded. “Back to the drawing board.”  
  
“Well, moving the conversation onto happier notes now that we've got that out of the way... I think we owe you congratulations for finally getting your shit together and kissing her.” Jackson grinned.  
  
“It was honestly the best kiss I have ever had.”  
  
“I'm wounded.”  
  
“Bite me.”  
  
“Can't, that's Allison's job now.”  
  
Lydia tried to glare, but she just couldn't manage the heat behind the look.  
  


  
She told Allison about her dreams when they met, Allison was painfully quiet as Lydia described each dream. As Lydia began to describe the dream from the night before, Allison cut her off mid sentence.  
  
“It rained blood.” She said suddenly.  
  
“I- yeah, it did how did you-”  
  
“I had the same dream.” She frowned. “I warned you that touching the stump would do this.”  
  
Lydia frowned as she ran her hand over Allison's wrist, pausing to feel the steady beat of her pulse under her skin.  
  
“Why didn't you say you were having dreams too?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison shrugged, turning her hand so that she could get a grip of Lydia's and brought their hands up to her lips to brush a kiss over Lydia's knuckles.  
  
“I didn't think they were significant. I always had similar dreams, especially drawing up to the full moon.”  
  
“Danny seems to think they have a purpose. Like the tree is trying to tell me something.”  
  
“Danny is right. You need to trust your instincts, Lydia.”  
  
“Maybe you're right.” Lydia replied, smiling slightly.  
  
“Come here.” Allison pulled on Lydia's arm and arranged them so that Lydia was leaning back against Allison's chest, Allison hugging her arms around Lydia's waist and pressing her forehead to the back of Lydia's head.  
  
“The only night I didn't have a dream... Was when I was with you.” Lydia said quietly. “As much as I want to say that you have a calming effect on me...”  
  
“It's more likely because you were in the forest.” Allison finished. “It calls for you.”  
  
“But why?”  
  
“Perhaps I’m not the only one who craves freedom.”  
  
“You're the only one I care about though.” Lydia replied. “What will happen with the wolves?”

“I could give them a chance. If they leave us to break the curse they can leave the forest and I won't pursue them. Provided they don't begin to hurt innocent people.”

“Which they probably will.” Lydia sighed.

“Probably, yes.” Allison nodded, she shifted so that her chin rested on Lydia's shoulder. “But they deserve a second chance. Even Peter...” She added reluctantly. “I only kill to defend. If I hunt them down without so much as giving them a chance then how different does that make me to my family? These twenty years would have been wasted I-”  
  
Lydia turned in Allison's arms to kiss her, hands bracing on Allison's knees and smiling at the small sound of surprise from the hunters lips.  
  
“Enough of that.” Lydia said once she pulled away. “Most people wouldn't even consider giving them a chance.” She kissed Allison again, running her tongue over Allison's bottom lip and pulling back when the girl presses for more. “You're so incredibly brave.”  
  
When she moves in again, Allison opens her mouth under Lydia's, swallowing her gasp and rolling them over, effectively pinning Lydia to the ground.  
  
Lydia stares up in those brown eyes and grins as she tangles her hands into Allison's hair to pull her down.  
  
There were worse ways to spend her afternoons.  
  


  
“Lydia...”  
  
“I won't come on Saturday, don't worry.”  
  
Allison smiles a little. “How did you-”  
  
“You use my name in serious situations.” Lydia shrugged.  
  
“Are you aware that-”  
  
“I'm finishing your sentences? Yes, sorry.”  
  
Allison laughed fondly and reached for Lydia's other hand, tangling their fingers together and backing Lydia slowly against the tree.  
  
“Don't be, it's cute.”  
  
Lydia's eyes close of their own accord when Allison angles her head to start trailing soft kisses along Lydia's jaw and down her neck.  
  
“I'm going to miss you though.” Lydia whispered. “I always do.”  
  
“I know.” Allison replied. “Me too.” She pulls back to look Lydia in the eye. “But I prefer you to be home and safe rather than with me when I don't know what is going to happen. I can't worry about you when I need to stop more people from possibly dying.”  
  
“Promise me you'll stay safe.” Lydia replied. “That you'll stay on guard?”  
  
“Of course.” Allison nodded. She kissed Lydia, holding her against the tree for what felt like a small eternity. “I promise.”

  
  
“Lydia. Did you know that bouncing your leg is a sign of anxiety?” Jackson asked.

Lydia looked at him from over her book. “Duh.”  
  
“And did you also know that you're bouncing your leg so much you're going to make a hole in my carpet?”  
  
“How would that even- No, not even going there.” She shook her head and forced her leg to stop bouncing.  
  
“I mean I know you're worried that Allison's going to die or that McCall and Stilinski are going to die or they're all going to die or whatever but Jesus, breathe.”  
  
“I just feel like I could be doing more than just sitting here reading through books I’ve already read five times in the vague hope I’ll find a sign as to how to break the curse.”  
  
“Twenty dollars says it's true loves kiss, just saying.” Jackson replied.  
  
“I might have an idea...” Danny spoke up.  
  
“Shoot.”  
  
“Well, you promised not to go into the forest, right?” Danny asked. Lydia nodded in response. “Well, there are three of us, we could walk around the edge, keep an eye out for them and if we see them, we can stop them, right?”  
  
Lydia closed her book. “That's a good idea. Jackson, get the flash lights.”  
  
“Great, now physical effort is needed. Thanks, Danny.”  
  
“Shut up and get the flash lights.” Danny shot back.  
  
  
  
“Can't believe I'm doing this.” Jackson groaned over the phone.  
  
“Jackson, people are dying.” Danny snapped back.  
  
“Children, please.” Lydia sighed, thankful for conference calls as to not have to deal with Jackson in this mood. “Just look for that God awful Jeep that Stiles insists on polluting our planet with.”  
  
They had split up, left to walk along different points of the forest as to be able to cover more space. Lydia knew where she was, she had intentionally chosen the point close to where she and Allison meet, she had sent Jackson to the west and Danny to the east, there was a lot of ground to cover after all.  
  
“Guys.” Jackson's voice broke through the phone. “Do either of you know what kind of car Deaton drives?” he asked.  
Lydia stopped in her tracks.  
  
“Well, it's silver.” Danny supplied.  
  
“Convertible?”  
  
“I think so.”  
  
“Okay... So guess what I’m looking at?”  
  
“That makes no sense.” Danny replied. “Why would he be here? Especially if he knows Scott and Stiles will be here?”  
  
“Who's to say that he knows they'll be here?” Jackson asked.  
  
“Too much of a coincidence for him not to.” Danny said as though it were the most obvious answer.  
  
Lydia's mind was racing, trying to connect the dots before she could fully analyse the information she had. Deaton no doubt went there to recharge, to make use of a towns supply of magic, Scott and Stiles were there to find Isaac, at least... That's what they'd been saying. Danny is right that they can't ignore the connection between the three of them, Deaton being Scott's boss and Stiles being the son of the woman Deaton cast the curse in the first place.  
  
“Lydia?” Danny called through the phone. She could see a light coming towards her from her right, no doubt Danny getting closer. She had to think.  
She lifted her head to the sky, much like Allison would whenever she was in deep thought and caught a glimpse of the moon.  
Her mind automatically flashed back to images of her dream and gasped.  
  
“Lydia?” Danny called again, she could see him now, only a few feet away and getting closer.  
  
“Jackson was right!”  
  
“I was?”  
  
Lydia began to move towards the trees. “Blood sacrifices- _Human_ sacrifices. People have been dying in those woods for years, Allison can never seem to stop them all because they aren't the wolves. It's Deaton.”  
  
“Lydia, back up a little, what are you saying?” Jackson sounds out of breath, running towards her probably.  
  
“It's how the curse has stayed active. He sacrifices them to the tree!” Lydia broke out to a run. “Don't follow me.”  
  
“Lydia-”  
  
“Wait-”  
  
Lydia hung up the phone and shoved it into her pocket. She could just about make out the sound of Danny yelling behind her as she runs deeper into the forest, flash light lighting her way. She knows where she needs to go, she just hopes to God that Allison is already there.  
  
  
  
“Allison!” Lydia yells, knowing somewhere in her mind that announcing her presence isn't wisest of options but what choice does she really have?  
  
She has no weapons, no skills, she barely understands how to use magic beyond a simple enchantment.  
  
She needed her hunter.

She ran past the lake, sending her thanks to whoever was looking down on her that she didn't trip over or fall in or anything that would have been embarrassing on a good day. Today would just be disastrous.  
  
“Allison!” Lydia screamed again, knowing she was getting closer to the stump.  
  
“Lydia!?” A confused yell from a few feet away. Lydia came to a stop as Allison jumped through the trees, confusion over her face. “What are you doing here?!”  
  
“Deaton is here, the stump... Sacrifice.” She explains breathlessly.  
  
Allison looks around, lips pursed. She pushes a knife into Lydia's hands, it's not one she's seen before and she's pretty damn sure it's carved from bone.  
  
“Just in case.”  
  
Lydia nodded in understanding. Allison's eyes flickered over her face and leant in to kiss her quickly before breaking into a sprint. Lydia switched off the flash light and followed, not as agile as Allison, never would be. But she's come a hell of a long way since their first meeting.  
  
There's a strangled cry from just in front of them as Allison breaks into the clearing, Lydia spots Deaton and Stiles immediately, stood side by side on the other side of the tree, she sees the knife in Stiles' hand and a flash of movement as Allison throws one of her own, the weapon burying itself in Deaton's shoulder. Allison sprints forward, vaulting over the tree stump to tackle Stiles to the ground.  
  
And that's when Lydia sees it.  
  
Scott, clutching his throat and looking directly at Lydia with wide eyes as dark blood spills over his hands and onto the wood below.  
Lydia moves towards him, grabbing his free hand and dropping to her knees. He makes a gurgled sound and Lydia can't stop the tears that spring to her eyes.  
  
“I'm impressed Lydia. I didn't think you could actually use magic.” Deaton says coolly, hand holding the blade firmly in his shoulder.

“Why?” Lydia asks, voice breaking. “Why did you do this?”  
  
Deaton gestures towards himself. “Me? I didn't do this, not at all.”  
  
“But if you didn't-”  
  
Lydia is cut off as Allison gets to her feet, body crouched and ready to pounce as she begins to move back towards Lydia and Scott, hand wiping over a cut on her arm. Stiles stands opposite her, face streaked with blood and the unmistakable glint of metal in his hand.  
  
A _knife_.  
  
“ _Stiles?_ ” Lydia's voice raises an octave, her heart is pounding in her ears. “But-” Her eyes look back down at Scott's, his grip still tight on her hand. “He's your best friend.”  
  
Stiles shrugs, he looks manic in the moonlight. “No hard feelings though, right Scotty?”  
  
“What is he offering you?” Allison asks, she's close to Lydia now, Lydia gets the impression that she's going to attempt a retreat. “Power? Immortality  
  
“I already have power. Right here.” He taps his chest with the tip of the knife. “Right beneath the surface, just waiting to break free.” He gestures to the stump. “We just need to power this baby up and I’m good to go.”  
  
“He's lying to you!” Allison replies, she grabs Scott's arm and pulls him off of the tree, Lydia tries to take as much weight as she can but Allison pushes her behind her.  
  
“It'll just make the curse stay!”  
  
“And give me the power to do what I’ve been waiting to do for ten years.”  
  
Lydia gasps. “You want to bring your mother back.”  
  
Stiles points the knife at Allison. “ _She_ killed her! This is all your fault! I'm going to bring her back and I’m going to gut you on this fucking stump.”  
  
“I didn't kill your mother. I'm not responsible for her death. I have no power Stiles. I'm human. Deaton is lying to you.”  
  
“I would never lie to you Stiles. Your mother was a true ally to me. She helped bring down the Argent's.” Deaton's voice was cool, collected, like none of this really bothered him. Lydia could understand how Scott and Stiles could be manipulated by him over a length of time.  
  
“All but one.” Stiles stepped closer. “Put him back.”  
  
“No.” Allison took a step back, dragging a limp Scott with her. “Try and stop me.”  
  
Stiles laughed. “I was hoping you would say that.”  
  
Allison span in a flash, eyes locking with Lydia's as she tugged Scott's arm over her.  
Lydia could smell his blood in the air.  
  
“Run!”  
  


Lydia ran.  
  
She could hear Allison behind her, she flicked on her flash light to guide them and she knew for a fact that this wasn't a dream this time. She wasn't imagining the thick roots moving and she knew it wasn't a trick of the shadows.  
The stump had gotten a taste of Scott's blood and it wanted more.  
Allison let out a choked cry behind her, Lydia began to twist her head to look but was cut off by a sharp;  
  
“Keep going!”  
  
“Lydia?” A distant voice yelled.  
  
Lydia heard herself sob in relief as two more lights began to approach them.  
  
“Who-”  
  
“Danny and Jackson.”  
  
“You brought them?”  
  
“I told them to wait at the line.”  
  
Allison manages a small laugh. “Nobody ever listens.”  
  
“Lydia!” Jackson reaches them first, just as Lydia hears Allison stumble behind them.  
  
“Allison-” Lydia drops to her knees as Allison crouches over Scott, hand pressed to  
  
his throat. “Is he...”  
  
Allison shakes her head. “I can't do anything, I don't... Can you get him to a hospital?”  
  
Danny is at Allison's side, pushing her blood soaked hand away and observing the damage. He shakes his head and grabs Scott's hand. Lydia feels herself slump in defeat.  
  
“I'm sorry.” Allison pushes Scott's hair back. “I'm so sorry.”  
  
Scott gurgles but nods slowly. Allison's head shoots back towards where they had come. Lydia can feel Jackson stood just behind her as she closes her hand around Danny's.  
Allison has her bow off and an arrow aimed as Stiles steps into view.  
  
“Where's the druid?” Allison spits.  
  
“Circling around us as we speak so he can leave and call the cops.” Stiles shrugs. “It's a shame really. We were only helping him release a deer back into the wild when we were ambushed by wolves...” He looks past Allison at Lydia. “Unless of course, you want to make things worse.”  
  
“Lydia... He's gone.” Danny whispered.  
  
Lydia looked down at Scott, only to be met with glassy eyes staring back up at her.  
  
“Shame. He really was my best friend you know?” Stiles began to move forward, Allison made a warning sound, effectively freezing him in place. “He knew that was going to happen. He didn't say so, but you could tell. Just from looking in his eyes he knew why he was coming here.”  
  
“You never wanted to find Isaac.” Allison replies.  
  
“That waste of space? Please.” Stiles scoffed. He looks at each of them in turn. “You really should go.” He says. “Let me talk to the hunter for a while.”  
  
“If you think I'm going to let you-”  
  
“Lydia.” Allison says. Lowering her bow slightly. “You should go.”  
  
“He wants to kill you!”  
  
“You ruined my sacrifice.” Stiles replies. “Next to her I’m harmless.”  
  
“You killed your best friend you sick fuck.” Jackson snaps.  
  
“Now now, don't make me angry.”  
  
“If the cops find you here, they're going to ask questions.” Allison says quietly.  
  
“You're going to let him cover up Scott's death?!” Lydia snaps. Allison lowers her bow completely and turns to face them Lydia lets go of Danny's and Scott's hands and gets to her feet. She can make out the desperation in Allison's eyes. Allison reaches out to touch her but thinks better of it when she realises her hands are covered in blood and holds steady, but she moves closer, letting her hand hover at Lydia's waist.  
  
“Live to fight another day. We will avenge Scott. Stiles will pay.” She whispers. “But I need you safe. They need to think you're cooperating.”  
  
Lydia steels herself but nods. “Okay.” She steps back. “Okay, fine. We'll go.”  
  
“Leave the body.” Stiles gestures to Scott. “Evidence and all.”  
  
Danny stands reluctantly, moving towards Jackson.  
  
“Allison-”  
  
“I love you, Lydia.” Allison cut her off. “I need you to hear me say that. Even if it's just this once.”  
  
Lydia throws herself into Allison, not caring about the blood, not caring that Stiles can see. She kisses Allison desperately, teeth catching on Allison's lips.  
  
“I love you too. Don't you dare die. Not now.”  
  
“As hot as this is,” Stiles calls. “You should probably leave.”  
  
Allison's jaw tenses, Lydia can feel it in the brush of their lips. “Go.”  
  
“Tomorrow?”  
  
“Tomorrow.”  
  
Lydia allows herself one more look at Scott's body and turns away from Allison, following Jackson and Danny out of the forest.  
  
  
  
None of them speak for so long.  
They go back to Jackson's, all separating to go to one of the many bathrooms of his house to shower of the dirt and blood, _Scott's_ blood.  
When Lydia steps out of the shower she finds some of Jackson's old clothes waiting for her and when she finally gathers the courage to go downstairs she finds Danny and Jackson sat side by side on the sofa, hands locked tightly. She sits on the other side of Danny and lets her head fall against his shoulder.  
It's not the same as Allison's, not as comforting. Hell, for all she knows Allison could be dead right now. Stiles could have killed her. Deaton could have snuck up behind her and slashed her throat, her body could be lying next to Scott's, waiting to be found by whatever deputy was on duty when Deaton called.

  
“What do we do now?” Jackson asked after an hour of silence.  
  
“We trust in Allison. We stop Deaton and Stiles. We break the curse and we avenge Scott.” Lydia replied quietly.  
  
“I can't believe he did that to Scott.” Danny shook his head slightly. “I just don't understand.”  
  
Lydia turned her head to hide it against Danny's neck.  
  
She didn't understand either.

 

  
Lydia left Jackson's before anybody else had gotten up, she hadn't even slept and she's at least fifty percent sure that they didn't either.  
But she couldn't wait any longer. She needed to see Allison. They hadn't specified a time to meet, but after last night, Lydia couldn't find it in herself to care.  
She was just thankful that the cops had come and gone in the time she had been away. She could make out the tire tracks of something heavy, like an ambulance as she walked up to the trees.  
God, Scott's mother...  
They owed it to her to fix this, to stop Stiles.  
Allison was huddled against the tree when Lydia reached the edge, eyes dull as she looked over to Lydia.  
  
“Hey...” Lydia greeted, kneeling down in front of Allison.  
  
“I failed. I'm sorry.” Allison replied, hiding her head against her knees.  
  
“There was nothing you could have done.” Lydia placed a hand on Allison's knee.  
  
“I should have been faster.”  
  
Maybe.  
  
“If we're going to throw the blame around, I should have made the connection between the deaths sooner. I should have realised that it was sacrifices that kept the curse strong.”  
  
Allison sniffed but didn't reply.  
  
“What did Stiles tell the cops?”  
  
“I don't know.” Allison mumbled. “I couldn't get close enough.” She finally lifted her head and Lydia could easily see the tear stains on her cheeks.   
  
Lydia used the sleeve of her coat to wipe Allison's tears away, leaning in to kiss her cheek.  
  
“I'm still going to fix this.” She said determinedly. “What did Stiles say to you?”  
  
“He wanted my version of events, about the Hale fire. About his mom and everything.” Allison shook her head. “He didn't believe me. He swore that I was going to die painfully.” Allison sighed. “Maybe that's what I deserve.”  
  
“No. Allison, no. Don't think like that. You're not to blame for any of this.”  
  
Allison looked at Lydia with the most broken expression she's ever seen on the girls face.

“Live to fight another day remember?” Lydia cupped her cheeks in both hands.  
  
Allison nodded. “Okay.”  
  
“Okay.” Lydia kissed her and pulled back, urging Allison to get to her feet. “You haven't slept at all, have you?”  
  
Allison shook her head. “I cleaned myself at the lake and came back here.”  
  
It showed, she looked half frozen.  
  
“Come on, lets go home.”  
  
Allison didn't correct her.  
  
  
  
Once they were inside the tree house, Lydia stripped down to the t-shirt Jackson had loaned her and her underwear, Allison hesitated before doing the same and following Lydia to the bed.  
  
“Rest for a while.” Lydia lay down, pulling Allison with her and holding her close. “And then eat, okay?”  
  
Allison nodded and wrapped her arms around Lydia's waist, tucking her head against Lydia's neck and pressing a soft kiss there. Lydia held onto Allison a little tighter, glad to be here for her when she needed it, trying not to think of countless times beforehand where Allison was alone during times like this.  
Things were different now.  
Now she had Lydia.

And Lydia wasn't letting her go any time soon.

  
When Lydia wakes, she's alone.  
By the time she sits up however, Allison is in front of her, handing her a bowl of-  
  
“Stew?”  
  
“It's rabbit.”

“When did you-” Lydia trails off and looks outside, the sun is hanging low in the sky 

“Oh...”

Allison hands her a spoon and moves to sit on the bed beside her, shifting until her back is to the wall. Lydia shuffles back so that she's doing the same.  
She eats slowly, surprised at how good it actually tasted.

“Could do with salt though.” Lydia winked.  
  
Allison shrugged. “Make the most of what you've got.”

“It's good, really.” Lydia replied. “I can't wait to let you in the kitchen when we get you out.”

Allison swirls her spoon through her own bowl. “Do you have a plan? The full moon is in just over a week.”

“I'm... Not sure. We know that the curse is strengthened by blood so that is out of the question.”

“Even if it were my blood?” Allison asked.

“I don't want to risk it.” Lydia shook her head. “We just need to take a step back. Look at the facts.”

“Deaton has been sacrificing people to the forest for twenty years, keeping the curse alive. Claudia probably realised this and when she tried to stop him he did something that led to her death, making it look natural enough that magic stood no chance of being a factor.” Allison said. Brow furrowed in thought. She looked a lot better now that she had been forced to rest for a while.

“Using his connection to Scott, he gets close to Stiles, no doubt telling him about the forest and his potential...” Lydia continues. Allison nods as she eats. “Maybe hoping to use him to carry on the tradition? Using Stiles' mother as motivation to have him kill?”

“Because what's a stranger once you've killed your best friend.” Allison frowns, letting her now empty bowl rest against her thighs. “But I still don't understand why he would go to the effort?”

“He's getting older, he can't keep making the journey to the forest whenever the tree needs fresh blood.”

“So he gets an apprentice.” Allison frowns. “Do you think that maybe he's trying to keep the wolves in too? Peter would probably want his head if he knew that Deaton was keeping them trapped.”

“If that's the theory you're going with, then that's probably been his main motivation, trapping your family was the goal but he caught the Hales instead and Peter doesn't seem like the most stable...”  
  
“I should talk to Peter about this. Maybe he can help.”  
  
Lydia let Allison take her empty bowl from her and frowned. “Is that wise?” The prospect of having wolves as allies is tempting but... “They're feral.”  
  
“And they'll probably turn on me immediately.” Allison sighed. “But it's worth mentioning. Maybe get a truce between us. I can't worry about them and Deaton and Stiles.”  
  
Lydia takes Allison's into account and thinks, she does have a point. “When would you do it?”  
  
“Tomorrow. Maybe.”  
  
“I want to try and confront Stiles tomorrow. At school, so it's neutral turf.”  
  
“Lydia-”  
  
“Danny and Jackson will be there, and I have the knife you gave me.” Lydia reached for Allison's hand. “It'll be our best chance to get answers, Deaton won't be there to influence him and remember, this guy had a crush on me, I think I can play him.”  
  
Jealously flashed over Allison's face, it's an expression she's never seen on the girl.  
  
“If he touches you...”  
  
“You can kill him.” Lydia nodded. “Only you get to touch me. Okay?”  
  
“I was going to say break his arms, killing isn't a punishment.” Allison replied.  
  
Lydia shifted so that she was seated in Allison's lap, ankles crossed around Allison's back.  
  
“I mean it though. Only you.”  
  
“I know.” Allison leant forward to kiss her, hands on her waist to keep her steady.  
  
“Only us.” She added against her lips. Lydia responded by kissing back harder pausing to suck Allison's bottom lip between her teeth and relishing in the small gasp  
Allison makes and the way her grip on Lydia's waist tightens. Lydia reaches for Allison's hands and slides them up until Allison is cupping her breasts, hesitating before squeezing gently. Lydia made a sound of encouragement, rolling her hips forward. Allison took Lydia's reaction as a positive sign and kept up the movements, eventually Lydia pulled back and pulled her shirt over her head, dropping it to the ground behind her. Allison stared at her with wide eyes.  
  
“Lydia...”  
  
“Do you want to?” Lydia asked. “I do if you do.”  
  
She traced the movement of Allison's throat as she swallowed. “I do.”  
  
Lydia kissed Allison again, reaching back to unclasp her bra and sliding the straps off of her shoulders and throwing it to join her shirt. One of Allison's hand grip at one of her thighs while the other wraps around her back, lifting them both and pinning Lydia to the bed underneath her. Allison leans back enough so that she's straddling Lydia and cups Lydia's bared breasts, flicking her thumbs over already hard nipples. Allison leans down and begins to leave long, biting kisses along Lydia's neck.  
  
“You as well.” Lydia pulls at Allison's shirt, leaning into the press of her lips as Allison works lip shaped bruises on Lydia's skin.

Allison lifts her arms to allow Lydia to pull her shirt off and then there's a moment where they just look at each other, acknowledge that they're almost naked, that this is going to happen.  
Allison moves slightly, using her hands to spread Lydia's thighs so she can fit between. Lydia hooks a leg around her waist, hips flexing as Allison kisses her again.  
  
“Is this okay?” Allison asks. “Do you want this?”  
  
Lydia threads her fingers through Allison's hair and silences any concerns the hunter may have.

“I want you.” Lydia whispers against Allison's ear, biting at it without any real force.  
  
Allison shivers at the words and kisses her way slowly down Lydia's body.  
  
Neither of them speak for a while.

  
  
Lydia wakes with her head tucked under Allison's chin, her arms wrapped loosely around Lydia's waist. She realises abruptly that it's dark and hopes that Danny and Jackson found the note she left for them this morning. She made it clear that she was going to see Allison and that they should cover for her accordingly, but she had been gone all day...  
  
“You think loudly.” Allison mumbled.  
  
“Sorry.” Lydia smiled against her chest. One of Alison's arms tightened around Lydia and she felt the girl move slightly and heard the flick of a switch as Allison turned on the lantern beside the bed, bathing the room in a soft glow.  
  
“Time to walk you home?”  
  
Lydia sighed and pulled away from Allison, sitting at the edge of the bed and glancing around for her discarded clothes, yawning and running a hand through her sex and sleep mussed hair.  
  
“I don't want to leave.”  
  
She felt Allison's lips against her neck and automatically tilted her neck to the side to give Allison more access.  
  
“It's okay.” Allison replied, fingers trailing over Lydia's spine. “I love you.”  
  
Lydia turned her head to capture Allison's lips, kissing her deeply. “I love you too.” she smiled as they broke apart.  
  
Allison stroked her fingers over Lydia's cheek. “Get dressed, before they think that the big bad wolf has gobbled up Little Red Riding Hood.”  
  
Lydia laughed as Allison climbed from the bed, on a quest for her own clothes, Lydia watches her with fondness in her heart as Allison throws her clothes her way.  
  
“You wouldn't let anybody hurt me.” Lydia said through a grin.  
  
Allison looked over to her from where she was pulling her jeans on and smiled. Lydia paused to appreciate the trail of hickeys that started at Allison's jaw and down, between her breasts and stopping just above her navel.  
  
“You're right, I wouldn't.” Allison turns to grab her shirt and Lydia sees a matching line of bruises down her back.  
  
Lydia grins to herself as she gets changed, knowing that she's covered in similar marks, several of which are in places that she's probably going to have to use make up if she chooses to cover them up.

 

Allison is cutting an apple when Lydia is finally dressed, a chunk hanging from her mouth. She lifts her head to offer the piece she had just cut, instead, Lydia opts to lean in and bite the segment from Allison's mouth, smiling at the dazed look on her face.  
  
“You ready?”  
  
Allison nodded, grabbing her bow from beside the door and slinging it over her shoulder, offering her hand to Lydia.

   


The walk back takes a lot longer than Lydia knows it should, but she's willing to take blame for that considering she insists on pushing Allison against every tree that looks solid enough for them.  
She just really likes Allison pinned to trees okay, sue her.

By the time they do finally get back to the tree line, Lydia has left at least three more hickeys along Allison's throat whereas Allison only really got the chance to leave one, right on the pulse point of Lydia's throat.  
  
“Don't go to see the wolves tomorrow, okay?” Lydia asked. “Not until I’ve had a chance to interrogate Stiles.”  
  
“I won't. I promise.” Allison nodded. “Do me one favour though?”  
  
“Anything.”  
  
“Try and find out about the knife he used. But don't... Don't make it obvious.”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
Allison frowned. “It looked old, silver... Kinda like a leaf. It's just a hunch though.”  
  
“Okay.” Lydia kissed Allison again. “Okay...”  
  
“Go, it's okay, I’ll be here.”

Lydia closed her eyes and let her head rest against Allison's chest.

“Once upon a time, there was a lost and lonely hunter. The young girl fell in love and never wanted to leave her alone again.”  
  
Lydia refused to refer to herself in the third person as Little Red Riding Hood. No way was that happening.

“But Red persisted. She went home knowing that the lost hunter would be waiting for her return. Unbeknownst to Red, the hunter would count down the hours until they could be reunited.”  
  
“That's not making it easier.” Lydia mumbled.  
  
“I'm sorry.” Allison cupped Lydia chin and tilted her head so that they could kiss. “Go home. I love you.”  
  
“I love you too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um... My bad?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That was in the past. Things are different now, so I’m going to have a new code. My code. Nous protegeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas proteger eux-mêmes, we protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

 

 

“Do you have a plan miss 'I got laid?'” Jackson asked quietly.

Honestly, Lydia had been expecting the school to be like this, another student going into the woods so close on the heels of Isaac. But what made it worse was the fact that there was a body _and_ a survivor. Stiles had been damn near impossible to get near all day, always surrounded by people with a dozen questions and Stiles would just give them a watery look and answer them in a shaky voice.  
Lydia settled for glaring at him whenever they were within a few feet.  
Honestly, the boy should get an Oscar for this.  
  
“I don't know... Just kinda... grab his lunch. Announce he's sitting with us?”

“Leave it to me.” Danny gave them both a pat on the shoulder and walked over to where Stiles was in the lunch line.

Lydia watched as he easily took Stiles' tray from him, even going so far as to pay for the meal and getting one arm around Stiles' shoulders to lead him to their table.

“Gotta hand it to Danny, he knows how to get shit done.” Jackson shakes his head, a small smile on his lips.

“And he's so polite about it.” Lydia adds.

“Sit down asshole.” Danny muttered, knuckles whitening as he digs his fingers into Stiles' shoulder.

“You're right, that's very polite.” Jackson nodded.

Danny sat down beside Stiles, giving him a look that just dared him to try and move.

“Lydia, you look like you've been busy.” Stiles smiled, eyeing the marks on her neck. “How good of a fuck is the hunter?”

“Better than anything you'll ever have.” Lydia replied with a shrug. “Lets talk about more important matters. Like how you cut your best friends throat.”

“I already told you, Scott knew what he was getting into. Had you and your girlfriend not intervened I would have been able to bring her back.”

“You can't bring back the dead Stiles. Necromancy is forbidden.”

“So is murder.”

“You don't even care, do you?” Danny asked. “Mrs McCall is devastated. She has nobody. You still have your dad!”

“That hunter murdered my mother.” Stiles hissed.

“Deaton is lying to you. He's twisted.”

“He wants to help me. He's going to train me to be as powerful as my mother. He's going to help me kill the hunter.”

Lydia laughed. “You don't stand a chance against her. I don't know what fucked up kind of ritual Deaton has you doing, but it's not to help you. He's just trying to save his own ass.”

Stiles grinned again. “Deaton told me who your grandmother was. She was strong, wasn't she? Are you one of us Lydia?”

“I'm something.” Lydia replied through her teeth. “I know that you don't need to resort to killing to access your magic. That's the dark way. The _easy_ way.”

“Fuck you.”

“What did Deaton tell you? Come on Stiles, I’m interested, what's with the hack and slash ritual?”

Stiles gave a lazy shrug. “Give the tree power, the tree grants you power in return. It's very simple.”

“So I could do it? Just grab a knife and slash Jackson's throat?”

Stiles winked, grabbing his tray. “It's not _that_ simple.” He rose to his feet. “I'd appreciate If you didn't bother me again during this painful time.”

“Or what?” Jackson asked.

“I'm glad you asked.” Stiles replied. “Or... I let slip that there's a certain girl living in the forest who was really the one behind the attack on my dearly departed best friend. That she swore me to secrecy and if I broke that silence, she would come for me. What do you think would happen? Would they burn the forest down when they learn that there's a serial killer in there? Would they send in dogs? Would they break out the rifles or start a good old fashioned witch hunt?” He looked to Lydia. “Do you want to find out?”  
  
Lydia dug her nails so hard into her thighs, she's sure she's drawn blood. She remains silent as Stiles stares at her.  
  
“That's what I thought. Thanks for buying me lunch Danny.”  
  
“Yeah, I hope you choke on it.” Danny replied as Stiles walked away. “God dammit.”  
  
“So that was a complete waste of time.” Jackson sighed. “Norman Bates over there needs to be stopped asap.”  
  
“Not a complete waste...” Lydia murmured thoughtfully, lips pursed as she watches Stiles retreat to another table.  
  
“Are you going to share?” Danny asked.  
  
“When we found Scott, Allison attacked Deaton and Stiles. She threw a knife at Deaton and tackled Stiles. Stiles had a knife, didn't really think much about it. But Allison mentioned it yesterday. She seemed to think it might have significance because it was silver.”  
  
“Her last name is Argent, of course she would.” Jackson replied.

“No but think about it. Stiles is obviously a spark right? But I used my magic just fine to use that enchantment so that me and Allison could actually _see_ Deaton in the forest. He knows I can use magic but he obviously can't tell Stiles that because it'll shatter whatever little story he's conjured up.”  
  
“I'm following you so far.” Danny nodded. “But what does that have to do with the knife?”  
  
“As far as Stiles knows, there's a chance that I could be a spark but for me to confirm it, I would need to kill to gift the stump or whatever, right?” She receives a nod from Jackson and Danny. “So when I asked if I could do it with any old knife, he said it wasn't that easy. So I’m willing to bet that the knife he used was ritualistic.  
  
“You want the knife don't you?” Danny asked.  
'  
“The full moon is in nine days. I still don't know how to break the curse. That knife Is important.”  
  
“Any bets as to where it is?” Jackson asked.  
  
“My money is on Deaton's office. He seems to be there more than he's at home.”  
  
“So are we adding breaking and entry to our list of things to do?”  
  
“Looks like it.”  
  
“Great...” Danny sighed. “I guess you'll be going to tell Allison after school?”  
  
“I was thinking of going now actually...” Lydia looked around. “I miss her, and she mentioned wanting to approach the wolves for a truce.”  
  
“Go,” Jackson waved a hand. “Tell her we said hi.”  
  
“We're going to have to meet her properly one day.” Danny added.  
  
“We can do group therapy, it'll be fun.” Jackson shrugged.  
  
“You'll both be okay?”  
  
“We'll look into the knife thing, don't worry.”  
  
“I owe you both one.”  
  
“More like several.”

  
  
Allison's face lit up the second she spotted Lydia approaching, there was an evident flash of confusion when she realises that Lydia is a few hours early, but that doesn't stop her from holding out her arms for Lydia to practically jump into when she's crossed the line.  
  
“You're early.”  
  
“I missed you.”  
  
“But school-”  
  
“Is fine, I’m ahead with literally all of my classes.”  
  
Allison laughs as Lydia kisses her, their noses bumping together. “Of course you are. Because you're brilliant.”  
  
“We spoke to Stiles.”  
  
Allison's expression grew serious immediately. “And?”  
  
“Can we sit? There's a bit to explain.”

  
  
“What do you think?” Lydia asked once she was finished.  
  
Allison ran a hand over her hair, lips pursed in thought. “I trust your judgement. If you think the knife is relevant, us having it will also stop any more victims.”  
  
“Jackson and Danny are looking into it.”

“You have your own mini army going on here, Red.” Allison smiled teasingly.

“Speaking of, do you still want to go and talk to Peter?”

“I think it's worth trying. If I'm at risk of being hunted by the sheriffs department, I should convince Peter that it would be in both of our interests.”

“Okay then.” Lydia got to her feet and brushed some dust from her skirt. “Where can we find them?”

Allison blinked up at her and rose slowly. “Lydia...”

“Don't 'Lydia' me. I'm not letting you go there alone, I don't care how good you are. I had to save you once, remember.”

Allison smiled and stepped closer, cupping Lydia's chin with her hand. “You are my saviour, remember? I'm not the hero of this story.”

“Then let me come with you.” Lydia replied. “There's a trick I want to try from my grandmothers book. If things go south, obviously.”

“What do you need?”

“Do you have any mountain ash in that bag of yours?”

Allison responded with a look of utter confusion.  
  


  
“How do you know that they'll be here?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Because Peter Is nothing if not sadistic and predictable.” Allison replied as they approached the burnt out ruins of the mansion. The entire building looked ready to collapse and the idea of going inside was definitely not appealing, but she had insisted and it wasn't like she could just go back on her word now, not now that they were here.  
  
“Peter!” Allison yelled at the house. “We need to talk, no fighting!”  
  
Lydia counted the seconds, eyes focused on where Allison's bow rested against her back, hands firmly at her sides.  
Slowly, she watched Peter step out, amusement written all over his face.  
  
“Oh, this should be fun.”  
  
Allison held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I'm not here to fight you, any of you.”  
  
“Just to burn us down? Finish your aunts job?” Peter left the house and began to walk towards them, Lydia looked around for signs of his pack, feeling uneasy that she couldn't even spot them.  
  
“I had no part in that, I’m sorry that it happened.”  
  
“Why are you here, Argent? And what's to stop me from having my betas tear your and your girlfriends throats out right now?”  
  
“Because we need your help.” Allison replied. Lydia could tell from her tone that she was straining to make it sound sincere.  
  
Peter laughed, head thrown back. “Oh this is rich.” He shook his head and slipped his hands into the pockets of his incredibly tattered looking jeans. “An Argent needs a Hales help? To what do I owe the pleasure?”  
  
“Deaton, the druid? Ever wonder why that curse he put on my family trapped you here too?”  
  
Peter's laughter faded steadily until silence surrounded them once more. “A side effect of an imbalance of magic, the source of magic for the town lies here, any idiot could figure that out.”  
  
“And you didn't care that you were trapped here?” Allison asked.  
  
“What more could we do, Argent? The druids died, this is our life now. The wolves and the hunter, doomed to the forest until only one remains.”

“What... The- Deaton isn't dead.” Allison shook her head. “He was here two nights ago, he had Claudia's son _kill_ somebody as sacrifice.”  
  
“That can't be possible. Alan was our emissary. I would know if he were alive, if he had been here.”  
  
“He's definitely alive.” Lydia finally spoke up, stepping forward but making sure to stay close to Allison. “He's a vet in town, really creepy.”  
  
“We think he's been sacrificing people to the forest to keep the curse active.” Allison replied.  
  
Peter grew silent, studying Allison carefully. “Tell me Argent, since our exile here, have you taken a life?”  
  
“Only those of your pack.” She frowns. “Why?”  
  
“And you, Spark.” Peter looks to Lydia. “How would he hide from us?”  
  
“A glamour. It allows him to slip under the radar, just out of view of our perception.”  
  
“You thought I was killing those people didn't you?” Allison said.  
  
Peter shrugged. “Well it certainly wasn't one of my wolves. We kill together.” His smile is menacing. “You wouldn't have found their remains.”  
  
Allison's fists clench at her sides and Lydia immediately knows the thoughts running through her mind, how many people died? How many did she not even notice?  
Lydia reaches over to take Allison's hand in her own, a small reassurance. Allison squeezed back but kept her gaze forward on Peter.  
  
“What would you say if I were to tell you we were trying to figure out a way to break the curse?” Allison asked.  
  
Peters lips curled into a smirk. “I say you have ten minutes to convince me not to kill you right now.”  
  
Allison matched his expression. “I only need seven.”  
  
As Allison spoke, Lydia noticed that she omitted some details of what they had learned, Allison left out all mention of the knife and its apparent significance, instead, she focused on explaining to the alpha all Lydia had uncovered. Allison spoke like a leader, her voice firm and steady and her gaze never once left Peter's, it was pretty remarkable even if Peter did look bored throughout and the feeling like they were about to be attacked at any moment did nothing to ease Lydia's fears.  
Peter's mask only slipped when Allison mentioned the threats both Deaton and Stiles had made, the threat of being hunted by a third party was obviously not an appealing thought.  
  
“So what do you want from us Argent?”  
  
“At the very least all I ask of you is that you leave us be, you and your pack stay away from us and we do all of the work. We break the curse, you walk free.”  
  
“What could you possibly hope to gain from that?” Peter asked, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
“The knowledge that I can walk through this forest with Lydia and deal with the threat of Deaton and Stiles without needing to worry about your pack joining the battle.”  
  
“And if I refuse?”  
  
Allison shrugged. “Then we go back to how we were before. Except I won't be so lenient as to where my arrows land.” The threat was evident in Allison's voice, her intent clear.  
  
“And afterwards? What happens if your spark breaks the curse?”  
  
“I'm willing to negotiate a permanent truce with you, Peter. I have no plans to leave Beacon Hills but I will not harm you.” She holds a hand up when Peter opens his mouth to speak. “Unless you harm an innocent.”  
  
Peter sneered. “What about your families code? What was it now? We hunt those who hunt us.”  
  
“That was in the past. Things are different now, so I’m going to have a new code. My code. Nous protegeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas proteger eux-mêmes, we protect those who cannot protect themselves.”  
  
Peter tilted his head in a manner that was definitely intended to be condescending. “How noble.”  
  
“Do we have a deal?” Allison asked. “You stay out of our way and I won't have to kill you.” _  
_  
“I would be a fool to turn down such an easy offer, all I ask is that once it is over, you leave us Alan. There a few things I hate more than an Argent and one of those is somebody who dares to cross me.”  
  
Allison looks to Lydia for the first time since Peter showed up, Lydia can see the question in her eyes, the silent request. As far as Lydia is concerned, Deaton signed his death certificate the moment he locked Allison in this forest but she can see where Allison may have reservations, giving him to Peter is condemning him to death, she may not be the one to strike but she still holds the responsibility.  
  
“Nous protegeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas proteger eux-mêmes.” Lydia said quietly, hoping her pronunciation was passable. “Think of all the people we're saving.”  
  
Allison pursed her lips and nodded. “Deal.”  
  
Peter grinned and stepped closer. “Perhaps we should seal the truce the way the families would in the past.”  
  
A flash of concern crossed Allison's face. “Blood oath?”  
  
“Your spark can act as witness.”  
  
Allison turned back to her. “Lydia?”  
  
“I don't- what's a blood oath?” Lydia asked.  
  
Peter sighed and looked at Lydia as though she were scum. “If you're going to call yourself a spark at least have the decency to read into the history of the supernatural world.”  
  
“It's an old tradition.” Allison replied. “It was common between wolf and hunter families after a long war, a blood oath would seal the truce, a third party- that would be you, would act as witness. There's no magic involved, it's just a tradition.”  
  
Peters claws slipped out. “Yes and I would rather get on with it now.”  
  
Allison unsheathed her knife.  
  
“You won't become a wolf from this will you?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Only my bite can turn a human.” Peter answered. “Your hunter is perfectly safe.”  
  
Allison pursed her lips and cut a neat line across her palm forcing Lydia to flinch at the blood that began to drip immediately. Didn't she know how many nerve endings were there? Peter dragged a claw over his own palm, splitting the skin open and Allison focused her attention to Lydia.  
  
“All you have to do is ask our names, we answer, you ask if we accept, we answer. We press palms and shake, you declare it. Okay?”  
  
Lydia nodded. “Okay.”  
  
Allison smiled reassuringly and walked towards Peter, closing the gap between them. Lydia followed and stood as close to Allison as she could manage. Both the wolf and the hunter looked at her expectantly.  
  
“State your names.”  
  
“Peter Hale, alpha of the Hale family.”  
  
“Allison Argent. Hunter of the Argent family.”  
  
“Do you except the terms of the truce?” Lydia asked, trying not to grimace at the blood dripping from both of their hands.  
  
“I do.”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Peter grabbed Allison's hand with his own, blood joining as he shook their hands with more force than necessary.  
  
“Then I, as witness, declare the truce between your families as is sealed by blood oath.”  
  
Allison stepped away immediately, wiping her hand on her jeans, grimacing as more blood rose to the surface. Peter opted for the creepier approach of licking the blood from his hand, it was then Lydia realised his cut had already healed.  
  
“Pleasure doing business with you.” He smiled, turning away.  
  
“Lets go.” Allison mumbled, pulling Lydia away with her good hand.  
  
“Your hand-”  
  
“We'll deal with it when we get to the tree house.”  
  


  
“You've been quiet.” Lydia said. “What's wrong?” She finished wrapping the bandage around Allison's palm and secured it tight.  
  
“Blood oath or not, he's  still going to betray me.” Allison replied.

“Then why agree to it?” Lydia frowned.  
  
“Because for now we need that assurance that they wont attack before or during our attempt to break the curse. He needs me alive at least until he knows he can escape.”  
  
Lydia cradled Allison's hand in her own. “I do wish you hadn't cut your palm though.”  
  
“I know, it's risky. But it's tradition.”  
  
“Did you mean what you said earlier? About staying in Beacon Hills once this is done?”  
  
Allison's smile is bright. “Of course I did. You still want to keep me, don't you?”  
  
“Forever.”

“Then I stay. Forever.”

Lydia leant over to brush Allison's hair back from her face. “Good. I need you by my side.”

Allison moved forward to press their lips together, smiling into the kiss.

“Danny and Jackson want to meet you properly too.”

“You should bring them tomorrow, they've helped with this yet we've only spoken through you.”

“You want them here?”

“They're friends of yours, they take care of you when I can't-”

“I don't know, Jackson is kind of an asshole.” Lydia interrupted.

“But he would never see you hurt.”

Lydia smiled. “You'll probably want to punch him in a few weeks.”

“Probably, if what you've told me is anything to go by. But I’ve never had friends before... And now I have a you and two more friends on the horizon.”

Lydia curled into Allison's side, she had an hour or two before she should be thinking about going home, despite what happened to Scott, her mother is still painfully blasé about where she spends her time.

“What do you want to do when we get you out of here?” Lydia asked.

“I want to take you on a date. But realistically I know there will be a lot of things that need to be done before then... I think I might get a hair cut. Something shorter.”

“Whatever you want Allison.” Lydia smiled, feeling Allison run her fingers through her hair and closing her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Lydia.”

 

  
“How do we even go about stealing from a vet?” Danny asked. “It's not like any of us are skilled in the art of covert operations.”

“What's the point in being subtle?” Jackson replied, reaching over to take another slice of cold pizza.

“Jackson has a point.” Allison nodded, shifting a little so Lydia could settle back against her chest. “The moment he realises that the knife is missing, he'll know you took it.”

Lydia frowned and turned her head just enough to see Allison's face, her eyes trace the almost healed cut along her jaw briefly. “As soon as he knows we have the knife, they'll use one of their stories, they'll have the sheriff hunt you down.”

Allison didn't reply, instead opting to nudge her head against Lydia's. A silence fell over the group. She knew Danny and Jackson would like Allison, but she hadn't expected for the three of them to get along so easily. Lydia had just watched happily as Danny and Jackson attempted to explain the outside world to Allison, celebrities that were famous, music they listened to, movies, technology.  
They were going to have a lot to show Allison when she got out, that's for sure.  
But eventually conversation had shifted to the elephant in the room and here they all were. Sat in a circle in Allison's tree house.  
  
“We could steal it the night of the moon?” Danny suggested. “We grab it and come straight here.”  
  
“That's risky though.” Jackson replied. “What if it's not in the vets? What if it's at his house, or Stilinski's or shit, even buried somewhere?”  
  
“Do you think you could do a locator spell?” Allison asked quietly, brushing her nose against Lydia's ear.  
  
“If I could, it would probably only pick up things inside the forest, because of the curse and everything.”  
  
“Worth a try though right?” Danny smiled hopefully.  
  
“I guess...”  
  
“And if it isn't hidden here?” Jackson asked. He looked far too homely sat against the tree trunk growing through the centre of the house, it was a little alarming in all honesty.  
  
“No matter what happens, the most likely outcome is that I get hunted by the sheriff and a pack of dogs or something...” Allison shrugged, apparently already accepting her fate.  
  
“I have a crazy idea...” Danny began hesitantly. He waited until all eyes were on him. “We tell the cops, we tell them about what Stiles did to Scott, everything Deaton has done, the curse. Everything.”  
  
Lydia shook her head. “If we do that, they might arrest us, anything could happen and we could miss the moon. You know Stiles will manipulate his father anyway possible.”  
  
“Then we tape our confessions.” Jackson replied. “Secret weapon, we tape them when we leave here, because this forest is like the fucking Bermuda triangle and it hates technology. Then if this whole magic locator shit doesn't work and we have a distraction that we can send to the station.” Jackson pauses to take a long drink from his soda. “And if the worst comes to it, my dad is a great lawyer.”  
  
“As long as you three are safe, I don't care what option you choose.” She kissed Lydia softly behind the ear. “This is your story, remember?”  
  
“Okay.” Lydia nodded. “Okay, so we record what has happened _but_ it's not for the sheriff, it's for your father.” Lydia said to Jackson. “If we're in a situation where we need him, he's going to need to know why. Tomorrow, Danny. You and I are going to need more candles.”  
  
“Honestly, that woman is going to start asking questions. What are they for?”  
  
“Mostly preparation for our curse breaking attempt, but I’ll need one for the locator spell. I have the rest of the stuff at home.”  
  
“So from tomorrow we have a week to get this all right?” Jackson asked.  
  
“Exactly. No room for errors.” Lydia replied. “Sound good?”  
  
Everybody murmured their agreements and Allison hugged Lydia tighter to her chest, resting her head on Lydia's shoulder.  
  
“You're a natural leader, Red.” She whispered.  
  
“Not as good as you.” Lydia replied.  
  
“...Do you guys want to be left alone for a while?” Danny asked.  
  
“Shut up.” Lydia smiled, turning in Allison's arms to hide her face in her neck.

  
  
“So I’ll come over tomorrow and do that spell, okay?”  
  
“You'll want to do it at midnight, right?” Allison asked, her eyes were focused ahead to where Jackson and Danny were walking together,  
  
“Yes, but I was thinking I could come over earlier...” Lydia let the words hang pointedly and watched as realisation dawned on Allison's face. The hunter pulled her attention away from the boys and onto her.

“I'm fairly sure I read somewhere that mixing sex and magic isn't the wisest of things to do.” Her tone is serious but there's no mistaking that smile on her lips.  
  
Lydia shoved at her shoulder playfully. “It's not like we're going to have an orgy and then try and bring about an apocalypse, Allison.”  
  
“I know, I know.” Allison ducked down to kiss Lydia softly. “We have all evening, any risks should be eliminated.”  
  
“Not to mention the fact that we're not evil and as long as our intentions are good and clear we'll be fine.”  
  
“That too.” Allison nodded. They slowed to a stop where Danny and Jackson were waiting at the edge. “It was good to finally meet you under better circumstances.”

“Likewise.” Danny smiled.

“Lydia could do worse.”

“I'm fairly certain that was a compliment.” Allison smirked.

Jackson leant over to Danny. “Yeah, I definitely like her.” he whispered, loud enough for them all to hear.

“Hopefully the next time we meet we can go bowling or something?” Danny suggested.

“I'd like that.” Allison nodded. “Thank you.”

“We'll meet you by the car.” Jackson said, winking dramatically and waving at Allison before tugging Danny through the trees.

“So, I'll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Allison replied, lacing her fingers with Lydia's and letting Lydia back her against a tree. “I'll be waiting.”

“Good.” Lydia placed a teasing kiss against Allison's jaw. “But until then...”

Allison cut her off with a kiss, it was pretty much where Lydia was going with the conversation anyway.  
  
  
  
  
“She's definitely looking at us weirdly.” Danny mumbled under his breath.

“Just stay calm.” Lydia replied. “We're buying _candles._ ”

“Yeah well she's looking at us weird and I think all of this stress is making me paranoid.”

“Just a little, yeah.” Lydia agreed. “Did you guys make the video?”

“Edited all of our confessions together and burnt it to a disc, Jackson cleared the safe in his room and put it in there.”

“Good call.” Lydia nodded. She stared at the woman behind the counter as she placed the candles down. “He's meeting us at school right?” She asked, trying to push the conversation onto safer topics. Danny picked up on it immediately.

“Yeah, he had to go meet with Coach about the team.”  
  
Lydia made a sound of sympathy. “Because of Scott? He was co captain, right?”  
  
Danny nodded as Lydia handed the money to the woman. “First Isaac, now Scott? We don't think Stiles will be able to handle playing.”

“It's probably for the best.” Lydia nodded. She took her change and the bag from the woman. “Thank you.” She smiled and followed Danny out of the store. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when they reached Danny's car and added the candles to the rest of her stuff in his trunk.  
  
“I'm definitely getting paranoid.” Danny groaned when she climbed into the passenger sear. “I keep thinking we're being followed.”  
  
“We're fine Danny.”  
  
The boy didn't look at all comforted but he started the car regardless.  
  
  
  
  
Jackson joined them at second period, he was wearing his pissed off face and definitely looked like he was going to punch the next person who looked at him. He dropped heavily into his seat.  
  
“So I take it the meeting with Coach didn't go well?”  
  
“Stiles didn't even fucking turn up, that murderous bastard.” Jackson spat. “I saw him on my way to first period too.”

“He probably thinks that because he's the wounded hero who dragged his friends body from the forest it entitles him to act like an even bigger asshole.” Lydia replied.  
  
She had intended her words to at least sound a little encouraging but couldn't help but feel like she had really missed the mark.  
  
“It's fine.” Jackson said, sitting up more firmly in his seat. He twisted to finally look at Lydia. “Did you get the candles and everything?”  
  
“Yeah, it's all in the car ready to go. Danny's dropping me off and I’m spending the night.”  
  
“Which means you get to pick her up in the morning.” Danny added with a smirk.  
“So long as it means we can finally put Stiles away, then I’ll do whatever I need to.”

 

 

The rest of the day passed in a blur and Lydia can now officially say that she actively avoided Stiles Stilinski with her lacrosse playing ex boyfriend and best friend.  
Not her best moment admittedly, but Lydia knew when to pick her battles and he was the last person they needed to deal with today.

So when she hears his voice calling her and Danny's names, she can't help the way she flinches. They turn towards him slowly, Danny touching a hand to her elbow in reassurance.  
  
“I'm glad I caught you.” Stiles smiled, he looks over Lydia slowly. “Are you going to see your girlfriend?”  
  
“Perhaps.”  
  
“A nice long walk through the forest, candlelight dinner, quick fuck against a tree?” He asked. Lydia frowned but held her tongue as he took another step closer. “Or does she take you to that god forsaken shack she built? How does she give it to you, Lydia?”

“Why do you ask, Stilinski? Need something to think about when you're alone? Porn not good enough for you now?” Lydia asked, easily slipping into bitch mode.

“I'm just saying that you should enjoy it while it lasts.” Stiles shrugged. “The moon is fast approaching.”

“I'll try to keep that in mind.” Lydia replied, she looks at her wrist, pretending to check the time despite clearly not wearing a watch. “Oh would you look at that, we're late. You and your hand have a good night.” She smiled before turning on her heel, dragging Danny with her.

“That was incredible.” Danny said as they got into the car. “You probably made him want to kill you but it was incredible.”

“He knows we brought the candles.” Lydia replied, pretending to check her lipstick in the rear view mirror but instead watching the boy carefully as he walks back to his Jeep. “He wasn't at the meeting with Finstock and Jackson this morning and you felt like you were being followed.”  
  
She saw Danny look up at the mirror, eyes tracking Stiles.  
  
“Looks like we need to be more careful.” He said.  
  
Lydia hummed non-committally, it was clear that Stiles was already onto them.  


  
Lydia settles back into the bed, caught between focusing on getting her breathing back under control and the way Allison is slowly and deliberately kissing her way up her body, fingers dancing along her thighs and waist.  
Eventually, Lydia gets impatient and tangles her fingers in Allison's hair, pulling her up so that she can kiss her, shuddering at the taste of herself on Allison's lips.  
  
“Is it bad that I don't really care if this messes with the locator spell?” Lydia asked between kisses.  
  
“Not at all. I'm inclined to agree.” Allison replied. Lydia feels her smile against her lips. “But that's because I know that you can do it.”  
  
Allison pulls away and slots herself against Lydia's side, arm wrapping around her waist to keep her close, Lydia smiles to herself and turns onto her side so that they fit together better.  
  
“Are you warm enough?” Allison asked, nuzzling against the back of Lydia's neck. The blankets had been kicked away within minutes of Lydia getting Allison onto the bed, all they had were the furs that acted as the mattress underneath. There was a chill in the air that was only more noticeable as she finally began to come down from her orgasm.  
  
“I'm fine for now.” Lydia replied, pulling Allison's arms tighter around her and pressing back into Allison, feeling the warmth from the other girl against her back.  
  
“Winter is coming.” Allison said simply. Lydia laughed before she could help herself and she could practically _feel_ Allison's confused frown. “What did I do?”  
  
“Remind me to introduce you to Game of Thrones when you get out of here.”  
  
“I have a lot of catching up to do, don't I?”  
  
Lydia rolled over so that she was facing Allison, reaching up to trace her jaw carefully.  
  
“You'll be up to date quick enough, I’ll be here to help.”  
  
Allison smiled, eyes fluttering shut as she leant into Lydia's touch. “I know you will.”  
She yawned quietly. “Are you still having those dreams?” She asked.  
  
“No, I think after Scott... It got what it wanted.”  
  
“Do you think that the dreams were the tree telling you to sacrifice me?”  
  
“I'm going to have to teach you about pillow talk...” Lydia muttered.  
  
“Hm, you can teach me anything you like.”  
  
“I'm going to ignore that attempt at a pick up line.” Lydia said pointedly. “But maybe? I mean it makes sense.”

“I'm not condoning what has happened, there's clearly another factor at work here. The dreams didn't make you want to kill me so it is still entirely Stiles' fault. He chose to kill Scott and Deaton chose to kill countless others before that.”  
  
“We considered that maybe using your blood might release the curse.” Lydia admitted. “But I didn't want to do that to you. Which is good because now we know that blood is not the way to go.”  
  
“We'll figure it out, we've ruled out one option, now we need to get the knife and figure out where to go from there.” Allison reaches for Lydia's hand and tangles their fingers together. “Do you have any ideas?”  
  
“The knife is relevant- you're going to need to draw it by the way, you're the only one who got a clear look, we can't locate it if we don't know what it looks like.” Allison nods in response. “But I’m thinking that it was important in creating the curse, so it makes sense that it can help break it... So maybe offering it to the forest? I- I don't know.” Lydia shakes her head. “...Jackson seems to think true loves kiss will break it.”  
  
“Well, all the good stories have them.” Her tone Is playful but Lydia can see the question in her eyes. “I mean... Is it real? True loves kiss...”  
  
“I don't know.” Lydia replied. “If It is, you should already be free now. Unless we have to make out over the tree...”  
  
The implications of what she had said obviously didn't go missed by Allison, the girls eyes widened and opened her mouth like she was about to speak before snapping it shut again. Lydia rolled her eyes and rolled until she was straddling Allison and leant down to brush their noses together.  
  
“When I say I want to keep you forever, I’m not just saying it Allison, I mean it. I want to be with you. I love you.” She kissed her lightly. “Enough to say you're my true love.”  
  
She drew back and brushed her fingers along Allison's jaw until she reached Allison's chin, pressing to make Allison tilt her head back. She spent a moment just admiring her pale skin, the way her hair was fanned out underneath her, eyes bright and staring at Lydia with an intensity she's never felt before.  
  
“I lived for seventeen years before I was trapped here.” Allison began, voice quiet. “I've been alive for thirty seven years and I have never loved another like I do you.” She reached up to stroke her hand over Lydia's cheek. “You are my first, last and only.”  
  
And well, Allison couldn't be more explicit with her words if she tried. Lydia stretched herself out along Allison, arms on either side of her face and kissed her, Allison's arm wrapped around her shoulders, the other burying itself in Lydia's hair. Lydia can't help the smiles or breathless laughs in between, she can't help the way her heart races when she looks at Allison, only to see her already looking back at her with eyes that scream love.  
Honestly, most of the time she looks like a puppy.  
Lydia reached back for one of the blankets and pulled it up over them both, she had decided immediately after the first night she slept over that Allison's sleeping bag days were over and had promptly brought her plenty of blankets to cuddle up in. She let their kisses grow lazy until Allison eventually moved them onto their sides, breaking off the kiss with a yawn.  
  
“Sleep, Allison. We have time.”  
  
“Are you sure?”  
  
Lydia stared at Allison and kissed her again, brushing their noses together. “Sleep, my hunter.”  
  
Allison smiled again. “Whatever you say, Red.”  


 

Lydia had to admire Allison's commitment, the tiny camping stove Allison kept in her house was definitely on it's last legs, the rate at which the water Lydia was trying to boil was pathetic. Besides, it was much more appealing to watch Allison sleep, all tangled up in the blankets, snoring lightly. It made her feel lucky to be able to see Allison like this, so vulnerable.  
Lydia looked back to the stove, she can't wait for the day Allison can finally own a microwave, and a kettle, and God, an actual shower, not that little contraption Allison put together, though Lydia does have to give credit to Allison's creativity.  
Lydia nudged the stove in hopes that it would somehow make the flames hotter, she didn't hear Allison wake or slip from the bed until she felt something slip over her shoulders. Lydia looked to see Allison smile at her as she walks back over to pick up her discarded clothes and realises that she's given Lydia her leather jacket.  
  
“What are you doing?” Allison asked, pulling on her shirt.  
  
“Boiling water so that I can make us ramen.”  
  
Allison scrunched her nose. “Make ramen? Don't you just add water to the cup?”  
  
Lydia waved a hand. “I won't eat this stuff everyday, this stuff is so unhealthy.”  
  
Allison didn't bother for her jeans, instead, she grabs one of the blankets from the bed and wraps it around her own shoulders as walks over to sit beside Lydia. Lydia slips her arms into the jacket and zips it up.  
  
“Does it always take this long?” Lydia asks.  
  
Allison shrugs. “I don't know, how long have you been waiting?”  
  
“A long time.” Lydia peers into the water, relieved that it finally seemed to be boiling.  
“It looks almost ready.” Allison points out.  
  
“Chicken or beef?” Lydia asks.  
  
“Um... Chicken.”  
  
“Oh good, because apparently I only have chicken.”  
  
“Then why did you-” Allison shook her head and laughed. “God, I love you.” She leant in to brush their lips together.  
  
Lydia smiled as Allison pulled away to rummage through the bag of food Lydia had brought with her.  
  
“I need you to draw the knife too.” Lydia said, pushing a sketchbook and pencil towards Allison.  
  
Allison lifted the book into her lap and twirled the pen between her fingers, glancing out of the window to check the sun.  
  
“How long did you leave me in bed?”  
  
“About half an hour.” Lydia replied. “There's Dr pepper in the bag.”  
  
Allison grinned and began to draw.

“After the spell, maybe you can make a fire and we can make s'mores?”  
  
Allison's eyes widened and her grin grew. “S'mores? Oh wow, I haven't had one of those since I was seven...”  
  
Lydia just had to steal a kiss.

 

“Is it all ready?” Allison asked.  
  
Lydia tied the string around the quartz and tested it, nodding once she was convinced that it wouldn't slip.  
  
“When did you draw a map of the forest?” Lydia asked as Allison took a seat opposite. The paper looked dated, torn at the edges and yellow underneath Allison's careful drawings.  
  
“A few weeks after I got trapped here, I needed to figure it all out pretty quick so a map was the best way to do that.” Allison shrugged.  
  
“Is that your drawing?” Lydia asked, nodding at the piece of paper in Allison's hand while she lined up a map of the town beside Allison's map of the forest.  
  
“Yeah, I’m sorry if it's not the best... But I didn't get the best view of it.” Allison held out the page and Lydia took it from her, studying the blade carefully. From the way Allison had drawn it, the blade almost looked like a leaf with a wooden carved handle. All things considered it looked beautiful, but...  
  
“Lydia?”  
  
“Sorry, I thought I recognised it.” Lydia glanced at Allison, not missing the curious look in her eyes. “It's fine.” Lydia placed the picture down.  
  
“What do you need me to do?”  
  
“Hold my hand, think of the knife, I’ll do the rest.”  
  
Allison offered her hand while Lydia lit the candle beside them. “Is that your bossy side showing through?”  
  
Lydia smirked. “Oh honey, you have no idea.”  
  


  
Lydia stared dejectedly at the fire Allison had built, cuddled up in Allison's jacket and a blanket.  
  
“I'm sorry the locator spell was a bust.” Allison said, looking like a sad puppy as she huddled against her. Lydia pulled her closer and wrapped the blanket around them both.  
  
“It's okay, we knew it was a long shot.” Lydia replied, letting her head rest against Allison's shoulder. Still, she can't really ignore the disappointment of not getting a hit, she had felt the spark of the magic, the way the quartz had circled the maps until it just stopped. Her grandmothers journal had mentioned that it should have felt magnetised the second it caught the knife using the connection of her magic and Allison's memory of it.  
  
“At least we know that it isn't inside the forest?” Allison said, trying her best to sound optimistic.  
  
“Yeah, so it's either with Deaton or Stiles, most likely Deaton though.”  
  
“Still, I'm sorry.” Allison turned her head to press her lips to Lydia's hair. “I wish there was more I could do.” She mumbled.  
  
“It's okay, Allison.” Lydia replied. She knows that Allison feels guilty sometimes, that she's stuck here while Lydia, Danny and Jackson are stuck doing all the legwork. She can tell Allison feels that way now, lips pressed to Lydia's hair and holding her close to her as the fire warms them.  
  
“Allison, I love you.”  
  
Allison smiles against her hair. “I love you too.”  
  
“Do you want s'mores now?” Lydia asked.  
  
“In a minute, I just want to enjoy this moment.”  
  
Lydia shifted until she had curled into Allison's side, head tucking against Allison's chest and staring at the camp fire.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackson muttered another curse and met her gaze. “Allison's going to die today.”

 

“This looks like a leaf.” Danny says as he studies the drawing. “And I think I’ve seen it before.”  
  
“Same.” Jackson nodded.  
  
“Good, because now I know I'm definitely not imagining seeing it before.” Lydia replied, taking the drawing back and slipping it into her bag. “We need to find it.”  
  
“You know we will.” Danny replied. He frowns as he looks past Lydia. “Stiles is staring at you.”  
  
“I'm going to break his nose.” Jackson growled.  
  
“Don't.” Lydia shook her head. “He can't hurt us here.”  
  
“He can't hurt us full stop.” Jackson replied. “He's pathetic.”  
  
“And basically a stalker. He's been obsessed with you for too long and now he's decided to become a murderer I don't really feel safe regardless of if we're outside of the forest or not.”

“Allison won't let him hurt me, or any of you.” Lydia chanced a glance at the boy. “She'll break his arms before he touches us.”  
  
“Sounds like a real knight in shining armour.” Jackson comments idly. “How is Allison?”  
  
“A bit down because she can't help as much, but good, she's good.” Lydia smiles, thinking of the girls smile when they parted ways that morning. “I just want her out of there and him in jail.”  
  
“Has your mother noticed that you basically live in the forest now?” Jackson asked.  
  
Lydia scoffed. “Please, she wouldn't notice an earthquake. I'm not being missed. She doesn't even know I’ve been going through my grandmothers stuff.”  
  
“...Maybe you should check your grandmothers books when you get home tonight?” Danny suggested.  
  
“Definitely.” Lydia agreed.  
  
“Hey, do you think Deaton does house calls?” Jackson asked.  
  
“What do you mean?” Danny turned towards him.  
  
“Well, the knife will either be at his office or his home right?”  
  
“Speaking of, we don't actually know where he lives.” Lydia frowned.  
  
“Maybe he sleeps upside down from the ceiling.” Danny replied without missing a beat. “Stiles is coming over.”  
  
Lydia glanced over her shoulder just as Stiles approached them.  
  
“Are you guys coming to Scott's funeral tomorrow?” He asked, expression gloomy.

“Anybody ever tell you that you would make a good actor?” Jackson shot back through a growl.

“There should be someone there who knows what really happened.” Lydia replied. Stiles smirked in response reaching to put his hand on Lydia's shoulder.

“Move it or lose it.” Lydia said, brushing his hand off.

“What? Your hunter going to stop me?”

“That's it.” Jackson stood up. “I'm going to enjoy this-”

“Ah, ah...” Stiles held a hand up and backed away. “Remember what I said.”

Jackson clenched his jaw, glancing at Lydia. By now they had attracted the attention of some other students, all watching the confrontation. She could tell that Jackson was silently asking for Lydia's permission to hit Stiles, but, if she said yes... He could unleash hell on Allison, on the rest of them.

“Next time.” Lydia said. She turned to Stiles. “If you ever try to touch me without my consent, Jackson and Danny will knock you unconscious. They will drag you to the forest and Allison will break your arms and legs. Okay?”

Stiles barked a laugh and began to walk away. “I'll see you all tomorrow, dress nice.”

Jackson slammed his hands down as soon as Stiles was out of the way. “God _damn_ it.” he snapped. “I need to break his nose.”

“It's dangerous, his dad is the sheriff, he has the advantage and he is honestly an insanely good actor...”

“If I hadn't held Scott's hand as he died, I would probably believe him.” Danny muttered, grief in his expression.

Lydia reached over to cover his hand with her own, squeezing it comfortingly. They still hadn't really spoken of what had happened that night, the bags under both of the boys eyes are hard to miss, at least she has the option of covering her own up. Danny and Jackson have each other though and Lydia wasn't exactly sleeping easy before what had happened anyway.

“Heads up though, I really don't think I can hold back if he says or does anything again.” Jackson ran a hand over his hair.

“Thank you though, for defending me, and Allison.”

Jackson shrugged, “It's no big deal.”

Lydia smiled, a year ago Jackson was a borderline abusive asshole, she was glad that things had changed though, that Danny had calmed him down and taught him to be more respectful. He was embarrassed though, so Lydia just gave a knowing smile and let it slide.

“I never asked though, what happens after Allison is out of the forest?” Danny asked, offering them all a lighter topic.

“What do you mean?” Lydia replied.

“I wanna know If she'll just age like twenty years immediately...” Jackson scrunched his face. “Or got a sudden twenty years worth of period at once.”

“Do you think about this a lot or...” Danny made a face. “Wait but no that's a good question.” He turned to Lydia, expectantly.

“We're going to assume that she'll still be her incredibly gorgeous seventeen year old self.” Lydia nodded slowly, it was something that had crossed her mind occasionally and Allison had brought it up once but they had both dismissed it immediately.

“Okay so what will she do? Will she carry on being a hunter and hit the road or what?”

“And where will she stay?” Jackson added.

“Allison is staying in town.” Lydia replied. “I... guess she'll move in with me, her family had money but she isn't sure if she has access to it or not.”

“You should give her my fathers number.” Jackson smirked. "I'm sure he could help."  
  
Lydia laughed. "I'll make sure to let her know."

   
 

Lydia closed her eyes, feeling the sun warm her skin, head pillowed on Allison's shoulder as the girls fingers moved through her hair slowly.

“Move in with me?” Lydia asked, the words left her mouth of their own volition.

Allison's movements stop. “What?”

“When you get out of here, until you can get a place of your own. Move in with me?”

“What about your mother?”

“What about her? Allison, she doesn't realise that I'm practically living in the forest and learning magic.”

Allison starts stroking her hair again. “I would love to.” Lydia felt her kiss her temple.

“Until I get my own place.” There was a moment of hesitation. “And then when I get my own place, you could maybe move in with me? I'll have a real bed and a stove and everything.”

“I would love to.” Lydia smiled, opening her eyes and rolling onto Allison. Allison raised her eyebrows but matched Lydia's smile as Lydia pushed their hands above her head. “Don't worry, we aren't going to have sex out here, it's cold.”

Allison laughed warmly. “I wouldn't oppose to it.”

“Well I’ll hold onto that for future reference.” Lydia leant down to kiss Allison's jaw.

“But I just wanted to look at my hunter for a while.”

“And you straddled me because...”

“You look good underneath me.”

Allison laughed again. “I love you, Red.”

“I love you too, hunter.”

Allison's smile fell, surprising Lydia by sitting up suddenly, grip tightening on her hands to keep Lydia from losing balance, head tilting to the side.

“Allison?”  
  
“Thought I heard something.” Allison frowned. Lydia looked to her right, straining to listen. She felt Allison relax. “It's nothing.”

“Are you sure? Do you want to investigate?”

Allison shook her head. “It's fine, it's probably just a deer.”

“Good, because I’ve seen too many horror movies so for future reference never say 'I'll be right back'”

“Red, there were horror movies before I got trapped here.” Allison leant in to kiss her.

“I know how they go. Are they any better now?”

“Not really, but there is the Blair Witch Project, that one you need to watch.” Lydia leant back so she could wrap her legs around Allison's waist. “Serious question, how strong are you?”

Allison raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Why?”

“Can you lift me up?”

“Easily.” Allison replied.

“So...” Lydia curved her hand under Allison's jaw, guiding her head up. “If I were to suggest sex against a tree...?”

“I thought you weren't into forest sex?”

“I said I would hold onto it for future reference, it's the future, I’m definitely into it.”  
  
Allison was on her feet in an instant, easily holding Lydia up and walking her over to the tree.  
  
“Won't the bark hurt your back?” Allison asked, lips already on her neck.  
  
“Probably," Lydia breathed, tilting her head back. "But I’m willing to find out.”  
  
Allison grinned against her neck, hand already moving under her skirt.

  
  
After saying goodnight and leaving the forest with a few new hickeys to add to her collection, she drives home.  
There's a moment, while she's waiting at a red light, looking ahead, she sees a vehicle puling turning a few hundred feet away, definitely looking like it could have come from the direction of the forest.  
It didn't help ease Lydia's mind that the vehicle looked a lot like Stiles' Jeep. She remembers the moment Allison hesitated and looked like a puppy as she listened for a potential intruder.  
She knew from memory that Stiles didn't have a stealthy bone in him, they would have heard him.  
  
The light turned green and she pushed her anxieties away and focused on driving home, she still needed to figure out what she was wearing to Scott's funeral tomorrow.

 

With her outfit laid out, Lydia had considered doing her homework, but with the knowledge that the school had given her entire grade the day off to attend the boys funeral if they wished, Lydia focused her attention to more important matters and it only took five minutes to have everything on her desk and her energy directed entirely on her grandmothers journal, she knows she had seen that knife somewhere and when she hit a small journal entry, Lydia sat back in her seat and made a sound of triumph.  
In the corner of one page, next to what looked like a coffee stain, was a hurried sketch almost identical to the one Allison had given her, although on a much smaller scale. Lydia had to squint to make out the finer details. _  
_Had the knife belonged to her grandmother? It felt like with every question they answered, a dozen more showed up in their place. Lydia yawned, running a hand through her hair and stretching, elbow catching on a stack of books to her right, sending them all falling to the ground.  
“Seriously?” She sighed. Of course this was her luck.  
Lydia got out of her chair and dropped to her knees to gather up the books into a neat stack, her eyes falling on the familiar photos of the Hale barbecue.  
Wait.  
  
“No way...”  
  
Lydia grabbed the photos, flipping through them until she found the picture she needed and sat back on her heels.  
  
“Of course.” She muttered, staring at the definitely leaf shaped knife in Claudia Stilinski's hand.  
  
Lydia scrambled for her phone, dialling Danny's number.  
  
“It's 1am Lydia.”  
  
“I know where we saw the knife from.”  
  
That seemed to get his attention, she heard movement on the other line. “What? Where?”  
  
“The pictures of the barbecue, it's the knife Talia and Deaton gave to Claudia.”  
  
“Oh shit, so that means-”  
  
“It's possible Stiles could have it too.”  
  
“Oh fuck...”  
  
“We need to find out Danny.”  
  
“I'll call Jackson, everybody is going to be at the funeral, Stiles included. One of us could go check his house out?”  
  
“It wouldn't work.” Lydia set everything back onto her desk. “If he sees one of us isn't there, he'll know something is up.” She bit on her lip and hesitated. “Besides, I kinda really need you both there.”  
  
Danny made a sound of understanding. “We'll be there, he isn't going to touch you.”  
  
“Thank you, Danny.”  
  
“Any time Lydia, try and sleep okay? It's late.”  
  
“I will, you too.”  
  
“Goodnight Lydia.”  
  
“Night Danny.”

 

 

Lydia stuck to the back row of the funeral, Danny and Jackson beside her, she was surprised with how many people actually did turn up, but then again, Scott was the most earnest person she had ever met and even though he wasn't popular, there was no reason for anybody to dislike him.  
Stiles was of course another matter and Lydia hated the way he sat at the front with Melissa and the sheriff.  
  
“Question, Scott's throat was cut right? How haven't they made the connection that it wasn't a wolf?” Jackson asked, voice pitched below a whisper.  
  
“Deaton and Stiles must have gotten creative with the knife, my mom described Deaton's shoulder wound and it didn't sound like Allison had thrown a knife there.”  
  
Lydia seeks out Deaton's face in the crowd, eyes drifting to the sling his arm rests in.  
  
“I think I might ask him about the knife.” Lydia said.  
  
“Is that wise?”  
  
“Nothing about this is wise but we're at the funeral of a boy we know was murdered and he isn't getting justice, the full moon is on Wednesday and it's _Friday._ We're running out of time.” Lydia looks back to where Melissa is now giving a tearful speech. “Even if it means me getting the knife and then hiding in the forest like a fugitive.”  
  
“We'll help however we can, but you should really change before you do that. That dress and those heels are not made for running through a forest in October.” Jackson pointedly gives her outfit a once over.  
Lydia pursed her lips and ignored him as Melissa broke down, the least they could do right now is show their respect.  
  
“Does Stiles know that he won't be able to bring his mother back?” Lydia asked casually, striding up beside Deaton. She smiled at his surprised expression. “I've been doing some reading, you see, Lorraine Martin was my grandmother and she left a few things behind, along with her journal and the only way Stiles could bring his mother back is through necromancy. Which, we both know is illegal.”  
  
“His mother was great, maybe he could be too.” Deaton replied, keeping his eyes forward.  
  
“Sacrificing people to the stump does nothing for his spark.”  
  
“Spark? You have been spending too much time around the hunter.”

“But I’m not wrong, am I?” Lydia asked. “All you do is keep the curse going, so why drag Stiles into it? You turned a boy into a killer.”  
  
“We both know that all I did was give him a small push.”  
  
“So, was it you or Talia who stole my grandmothers knife?”  
Deaton looked at her for the first time, gaze questioning. Lydia shrugged.  
  
“I found a drawing in her journal that matched the gift Claudia had in the photos of the barbecue.”  
  
“You're very observant.”  
  
Lydia scanned the crowd, finding Danny and Jackson talking to some other people she recognised from school. Danny glanced in her direction, checking if she's okay.  
  
“Observant but still missing a lot of pieces to the puzzle.” Lydia replied. “My main question right now is what relevance the knife plays and why you decided to bring Stiles into it...” Lydia turned her towards Deaton. “Unless... You didn't bring him in.”  
  
Deaton raised an eyebrow.  
  
“I had the benefit of my grandmothers belongings... Stiles found out about this on his own didn't he? He found the connection between you and his mother and you had to cover your tracks, he would have killed you if he knew you killed his mother so you blamed Allison... Came up with this whole bringing Claudia back story...” Lydia let out a disbelieving laugh. “He's going to kill you when he figures it out.”  
  
“He isn't going to figure it out.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Lydia asked, looking over to Stiles, frowning as he gets close to where Jackson and Danny are talking. “Because he's pretty fucking smart.”  
Deaton is silent for a few moments.  
  
“You're scared of him. What he could do. He doesn't need some stupid made up ritual to be able to use magic and if he spends enough time in that forest he's going to figure it out so do me a favour Deaton, tell me how to break the curse, help us put him away.”  
  
Deaton smiled. “I don't know what you're talking about Lydia. You have a good rest of your day.”  
  
He walked away before Lydia could come up with a retort. She let out a small groan of frustration, she knew he wouldn't go for a deal, he wanted the curse. Peter would send his pack after the man the second the barrier broke, and that just the least of his problems.  
Deaton was running out of time and he knew it.  
Screaming pulled Lydia from her thoughts, attention shifting over to the source.  
  
“Oh, shit.” She breathed.  
  
Danny was holding Jackson back, Jackson was yelling at Stiles, a definitely bleeding Stiles. Lydia pushed her way through the crowd, appearing at their side.  
  
“You had to lose it here?” She hissed. “At the funeral?”  
  
“Lydia...” Danny began.  
  
“What the fuck happened?” She looked up to see the sheriff coming closer.  
  
“He made a very clear threat.” Jackson snarled. The hatred in his eyes was terrifying.  
  
“Lydia, you should go to Allison.” Danny added.  
  
“What happened?”  
  
“Just go, we'll deal with this.” Danny looked over to where the sheriff was only feet away and back down to where Stiles was clutching his jaw.  
  
“What did he say?” Lydia gritted out.  
  
Jackson muttered another curse and met her gaze. “Allison's going to die today.”

Her face must have flashed with terror, Danny nodded at her.

“Go."  
  
She didn't hesitate.

 

  
Lydia was thankful she had started to keep appropriate footwear in the car, it cost her a minute or two, but Lydia couldn't regret it as she ran through the forest without fear of a heel snapping and breaking her ankle.  
  
“Allison!” Lydia yelled.  
  
She had no idea where the girl would be at this time, she could only hope she would be by the lake or at the tree house.  
Allison couldn't die here, Stiles wanted to kill her himself. He had said as much and he was still at the cemetery, well, more likely hospital at this point.  
  
“Allison!”  
  
Lydia ran straight into a figure, their hands grabbing her arms as they fell to the ground.  
  
“Lydia-” Allison choked out, winded. Lydia pulled herself back and stared at the girl underneath her, hands pressing over her body and checking for injuries. “Lydia, hey, hey.” Allison stilled Lydia's hands with her own. “What's wrong?”  
  
“You're okay.” Lydia leant down to pepper kisses over Allison's face. “You're okay.”  
  
“I'm okay, are _you_ okay?” Allison cupped her cheek and forced her to pull back. “What happened?”  
  
“The funeral... I was talking to Deaton.. Jackson punched Stiles, he said you were going to die today.”  
  
Allison tapped on her shoulder and held her so that she could sit up, eyes worried as she held Lydia close to her.  
  
“I thought he wanted to kill me?”  
  
“He does, that's what I don't understand.”  
  
Allison kissed the corner of her mouth. “Come on, you're shaking.”  
  
She was, she hadn't even noticed. Allison guided her onto her feet and shrugged off her jacket, holding it expectantly until Lydia let her put it on.  
  
“You're okay, Red. We're both okay.”  
  
Lydia shook her head. Mind racing as Allison got an arm around her shoulders and walked her towards her tree house.  
  
“Stiles couldn't kill you, you're a trained hunter.” Lydia muttered.  
  
“Exactly.” Allison smiled.  
  
“But...” Lydia pursed her lips, looking around the trees. “A pack of wolves might be able to slow you down.”  
  
Allison froze in her steps, flashing a questioning look to Lydia. “You think Peter is going to betray me? For Stiles?”  
  
Another memory flashed to the surface of Lydia's mind. “I think I saw his Jeep last night, he could have been leaving the forest.”  
  
Allison hesitated before sliding her bow from her shoulders. Lydia was thankful that the girl took it everywhere with her.  
  
“Come on, we'll go back to the tree house, figure out a plan.”  
  
Lydia nodded, there was also the matter of Stiles, now that Jackson had lashed out, they were running on borrowed time. They needed to figure out what they were going to do next.  
  
  
  
The tree house had just come into view when Allison froze, hand keeping Lydia from moving any more.  
  
“I think you might have been right.” Allison whispered. “Come out, Peter!”  
Lydia looked around, letting Allison step forward, already reaching for two arrows.  
  
“Lydia, do you still have the mountain ash?”  
  
“Yeah.” Lydia nodded, she grasped the vial around her neck, she had switched the wolfsbane for the mountain ash, she had intended to get her hands on another vial for the wolfsbane but like Allison, she had dared to believe that the truce would work.  
Peter stepped out, all of his wolves following closely.

“That hunter intuitiveness never fails to impress me.” Peter shook his head slowly, amused. “You would make an excellent wolf.”  
  
“I would.” Allison agreed. “But I quite like the human life.” She added with a shrug. “What are you doing here, Peter?”

“I think you know, Allison.”  
  
“You're breaking the oath.”  
  
“It's nothing personal-”  
  
“Oh please,” Allison scoffed. “It's entirely personal.”  
  
“I just had a better offer is all.” Peter continued.  
  
“What did he offer you?” Lydia asked. She didn't like how Allison wasn't reacting to how the rest of the wolves were slowly circling them. She knew Allison was fast with her bow, she had a technique that Lydia hadn't come across yet and her reflexes were on par with the wolves, hell, Lydia would dare to say that Allison was marginally better.  
  
But she was still outnumbered.  
  
Peter pointed at Allison. “I get to watch her die, I get to kill Deaton and Stiles gets you.” His points to Lydia. “The curse will still be broken. Everybody is happy.”  
  
“She is not a prize to won!” Allison snapped. “Lydia is not a possession that he can just take if I were to die!”  
  
“I don't really care about your love story Allison.” Peter shrugged. “I don't care about what Claudia's son wants.”  
  
“As selfish as ever.” Allison laughed bitterly.  
  
The wolves pounced, Allison reacted immediately, firing two arrows into the skulls of those closest. Lydia didn't give herself time to think. She grabbed the vial around her neck and pulled it from the chain, cork coming free.  
Lydia cleared her mind, projecting one singular thought.  
  
Protect Allison.  
  
She threw the vial into the air, the mountain ash spilling free, as it fell to the ground Lydia moved forward, grabbing Allison by the back of her shirt, ignoring the sound of protest she made and pulled her back against her. A black wolf, fur streaked with grey leapt at them as the ash settled, howling as it hit the line, a barrier coming to life.  
“Holy shit, Lydia.” Allison muttered. “How did you-”  
  
“I'm so glad that worked.” Lydia replied.  
  
Peter looked impressed and maybe, a little alarmed.  
  
“Your spark has gotten stronger.” He said.  
  
“Oh you have no idea.” Allison replied. She glanced over her shoulder at Lydia, eyes flickering over her face nervously before they shifted back into something darker right before she turned to Peter again. “We made a blood oath. A truce. The war was over, Peter and now you've lost two more betas!”  
  
“When will you learn hunter?” Peter asked, stepping forward. “The war between our families will only end when one of us walks away from this.”  
  
Allison nods, dropping her head slightly. “So this is it.”  
  
“This is it.”  
  
“I didn't want to kill your family Peter. Or your pack. If any of them want to leave, they should do it.” She looks around at the wolves. “Boyd, Erica... The rest of you, if you leave this area, I won't come after you.”  
  
“You're being pathetic Allison.” Peter sighed.  
  
“I'm giving them a chance.”  
  
Lydia counts seven wolves, not including the two dead a few feet away, she wonders if Allison knows which ones are Boyd and Erica. Lydia can see a few hesitating.  
  
“If they leave, I'll kill them.”  
  
“You won't. It's like you said, only one of us is going to walk away from this.”  
  
“Step out of your little circle, Allison. Lets find out.”  
  
Allison turned back to Lydia, the softness was back in her expression. “Stay inside the circle.”  
  
“Allison...”  
  
“I need to do this Lydia.” She cupped her cheek in one hand. “I need to fight him.”  
  
Lydia looked at the man, feeling her heart rocket as his eyes flash.  
  
“Allison, please be careful.”  
  
Allison leant in to kiss her softly, Lydia closed her hands around handfuls of Allison's shirt, pressing harder into it.  
  
“I love you, Red.” She whispered against Lydia's lips.  
  
“I love you too.”  
  
“Close your eyes.”  
  
“...What?”  
  
“Please.” Allison pulled away. “For me.”  
  
“Allison, I won't think any less of you.”  
  
Allison kissed her again, longer this time and Lydia let her eyes drift close. Just like that, Allison pulled herself away and the sound of fighting began, the familiar twang of Allison's bow string, the solid impact of an arrow meeting flesh and grating through bone, the howls of wolves.  
  
It only feels like seconds later when Lydia opens her eyes but there are three more bodies littering the ground, the rest of the wolves having apparently fled. Allison's bow was on the ground, the girl was on Peters back, there were arrows lodged into his shoulders his claws were out and trying to scratch at Allison.  
Peter reached back, grabbing the back of her shirt and flinging Allison off of him, she landed hard on her back.  
  
“Come on Allison. You can do better than that.” He snapped the arrow shaft from his shoulder.  
  
Allison laughed breathlessly as she got to her feet, she was streaked with blood and Lydia couldn't tell if it was hers or not.  
  
“Coming from the guy who lets a little wolfsbane keep him from shifting?” Her grip tightened on her knife, pulling another from inside her boot and spinning it in her hand.  
  
They circled each other slowly. It was all a mind game, alpha versus hunter, two leaders in a fight to the death.  
  
“What do you have to live for after this, Argent? Your family are dead. The name tarnished, nothing more than a family of murderers.”  
  
“It's a whole new word out there. A new chance. My family are dead, they died years ago.” Peter lunged forward, Allison ducked to the left and slashed at his thigh. “But I’m not my family. I am not a murderer.” She stabbed him in the right shoulder, Lydia watched Peter get his claws against Allison's hip but she persisted, pressing forward and digging the knife in harder and kicking his knee hard enough that Lydia could hear the crack from where she was stood. Peter dropped to his knees and laughed.  
  
“Then what is it you're doing right now Allison?”  
  
“Defending myself and the girl I love. It's not too late Peter, I can let you go.”  
  
“Don't be so childish.” Peter laughed. “You think you can kill an alpha? You can't kill-”  
  
Allison didn't let him finish, Lydia flinched and let out a squeak as Allison drives the knife into his throat, blood spraying over Allison's face, Allison persists, dragging it across slowly, closing her eyes at the sound of Peter's gurgling.  
  
It reminds her of what Stiles did to Scott and Lydia can tell Allison is thinking the same thing.

Peters body falls to the ground and silence falls with it. Allison stands there for a few moments before she lets the knife slip from her hand and taking several steps back, bringing her hands up to wipe away the blood from her face, only managing to smear more over her skin.  
Lydia breaks the line as Allison sinks to her knees, hair obscuring her face.  
  
“He's right.” Allison says. Lydia stops to stand in front of her. “I'm just a killer.”  
  
“No, Allison. No...” Lydia drops to her knees. “You did what you had to do, him or us, remember?” She slipped her hands into Allison's hair to ease her head up until they were eye to eye. “You offered them an out, four wolves are missing.” Allison's eyes flickered around over the bodies. “If you were a killer, you would be hunting them down.” Lydia uses her thumbs to wipe at the blood on Allison's cheeks. “But you aren't. You're _here._ With me.”  
  
“Always with you.” Allison whispered.  
  
Lydia leant in to kiss her, it took Allison a moment to respond and the girl wouldn't touch her, probably because of the amount of blood of Peter's blood on her.  
  
“Come on, lets get you cleaned up, I saw that hit he got on you.”

Allison nodded and let Lydia pull her to her feet.  
  
 

  
She left Allison to strip and wash while she made her way up into the tree house to grab Allison some clean clothes and the first aid kit. By the time she got back, Allison was sat underneath the tree, only in jeans and her bra, her hair was wet and slicked back and she was investigating the series of claw marks across her hipbone.

“I don't think they need stitches.” Allison said. “But it's going to hurt for a while.”

Lydia set the clean clothes down beside Allison and checked the wound, humming in agreement. She pushed on Allison's shoulder so that the girl shifted to lie on her side, frowning but complying so that Lydia could begin to work on her hip.

“I think Boyd and Erica were two of the wolves that ran.” Allison said, wincing when

Lydia pressed the gauze to the skin. “That's what I’m going to believe.”

Lydia nodded in understanding. Whatever made it easier for her, it was what Lydia was going to believe too.  
Lydia gave her hip a light tap, signalling that she was done. Allison sat up, brushing off dirt and dry leaves from her side.

“How was the funeral?” Allison asked, reaching for her shirt and pulling it on.

“Sad, but it was a good turnout, I got some good information from Deaton.”

Allison's eyebrows arched, inquisitive. She shifted, arms open in invitation, Lydia settled in Allison's lap, arm around Allison's neck.

“Tell me about It.”  
  


  
“So Stiles is running the show.” Is the first thing Allison says once Lydia has finished.

“Except he doesn't know that, not exactly.” Lydia replied. “But we're all running out of time, Deaton is included into the race now.”

“You should go and check in with Danny and Jackson. They could be arrested or anything.” Allison spoke up.

Lydia jerked to attention, she had let herself drift and for a moment she had forgotten about them both. Allison gave a knowing smile and let Lydia stand, following her up and reaching for her bow.

“The forest does that, it's easy to forget there's a world out there.”

“I hear that.” Lydia agreed. “Barring any disasters, can I stay the night?”

“You're always welcome to stay with me.” Allison replied. “But perhaps you should go home first?”

“What?” Lydia frowned.

Allison gestured to her outfit and, oh right, the dress. Lydia smiled sheepishly.

“And... I should also bury them.” Allison murmured. “It's the least I could do.”

They walked quickly, Lydia glancing at her phone and waiting for her to get at least one bar of signal. She caught Allison glancing down at the phone periodically.

“A bit different from what you remember, right?”

“That is an incredible understatement.” Allison replied. “I'm just glad that I haven't missed hover boards yet.”

“They're working on it.”

Allison's eyes went wide with wonder. “Seriously?!”

Lydia squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Lets start with facebook.”

Allison smiled and opened her mouth to speak, instead, she let out a startled cry, a barrier of energy rising in front of her and yanking Allison's hand away.

“Allison!” Lydia turned to the girl. She looked around and realised that she was on the other side of the tree line.

Allison groaned and sat up. “I think that's the first time I’ve ever lost track.” She rubbed at her face. “That fucking hurt.”

“Allison-”

“I'm fine, call the boys.” She waved a hand.

Lydia flashed her one more look as she dialled Danny's number.

“Lydia!” Came the gasp of relief. “Is Allison okay? What- Hey, Jackson!” There was muffled sounds of struggle on the other line.

“What happened?” Jackson asked.

“Jackson, put the fucking phone on speaker.” Danny complained from the background.

“Allison is fine, she's safe.” Lydia replied. “Stiles... He, he went to the wolves, offered the alpha a deal. They attacked. We're okay, she stopped him. A- Allison stopped him.”

There was a sigh of relief on the other line.

“Don't fuck with the hunter.” Jackson muttered.

“That explains why Stiles...” Danny began.

“Why Stiles what?” Lydia asked. Allison got to her feet, a questioning look in her eyes, Lydia switched the phone to speaker and turned it up so that the girl could hear on the other side of the barrier.

“The sheriff was going to arrest Jackson for assault, Stiles talked him down, said it was just grief.”

“But that makes no sense...” Lydia frowned.

“It does if he thinks I’m being held captive by Peter.” Allison crossed her arms over her chest and leant against the tree. “As far as he's concerned he'll go to that burnt out house and find me gift wrapped and ready for him to kill and sacrifice.”

“So why drag his father into it when he thinks he's already won.” Lydia nodded.

“Bingo.” Allison winked.

“And what? We just pretend we can't find Allison and Lydia acts all scared and concerned-”

“It's Friday, Danny.” Lydia cut him off. “We just need to buy time until Wednesday, we get through the weekend without Stiles figuring out Allison killed Peter we're fine.”

“Well with the punch I gave him he'll definitely be out of it for a day or two. So we're good there.” Jackson said, Lydia rolled her eyes at the smugness In his tone. “So if you have a plan on getting that knife, this feels like our window of opportunity.”

“I'm coming home to get changed, grab some food and I’m staying with Allison tonight.” Lydia smiled in Allison's direction.

“So what's the idea, Lydia?” Jackson asked. “We look for an opening and break into Deaton's?”

“If you think you can pull it off.” Lydia replied eventually. “We can't make any risks and get caught.”

“Stakeout!” Danny yelled from the background.

“Text me everything okay? And if my mother calls say my phone died or whatever.”

“We will, stay safe.”

“You too.”

Lydia hung up and slipped her phone into her purse, stepping back over the line towards Allison.

“I'll be back in an hour.” Lydia said, taking off Allison's jacket and handing it back to her. “What do you want me to bring for dinner?”

“I don't mind, you can choose.”

Lydia smirked. “So pizza?”

“Please.” Allison replied sheepishly.

Lydia laughed and wrapped her arms around Allison's neck to kiss her. “I'll be back in

an hour.”

“Stay safe.”

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So the endgame is in sight...”

“I honestly expected you to stay in the forest all weekend.” Jackson commented idly as he browsed through her cupboards.  
  
“I love Allison with all my heart. But I need a real shower, Jackson. I'm going back in a few hours.”  
  
There was a hurried knocking at the door, Jackson's head whipped around, concern flashing in his eyes as Lydia ran over to open it to reveal a breathless looking Danny.  
  
“Danny? What's wrong?” Jackson was at his side immediately.  
  
“Greenberg,” Danny gasped. “He's dead.”  
  
“What?” Lydia asked. “How?”  
  
Jackson dragged Danny into the kitchen and sat him down at the counter, Lydia moved around them and forced a glass of water into his hand.  
  
“Stabbed, like... thirteen times... I drove past the crime scene and stopped to check it out...”

“Where did they find him?” Lydia asked, voice careful as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, head resting against his.  
  
“The traffic lights down on 3rd.”  
  
Lydia shared a look with Jackson, that was only a couple hundred yards from the forest and if Lydia was correct (and lets face it, she always was) that that was where, or at least close, to the route leading to the Hale house.  
  
“They followed a trail of blood back to the forest.” Danny added, setting the now empty glass down.  
  
“So Stiles is feeling better.” Jackson muttered. “He did it, didn't he?”  
  
“But why?” Danny asked, he looked like he was on the verge of tears.  
  
“Greenberg managed to get himself from the forest-”  
  
“Either that or he was dragged.” Lydia added.  
  
“So either Greenberg saw something he wasn't supposed to. Or...” Danny trailed off to shake his head.  
  
“He was a message.” Lydia sat down beside Danny.  
  
“So it's safe to say that Stiles knows Peter is dead.” Jackson added.  
  
“He's setting something up.” Danny concluded.  
  
“He's setting _Allison_ up.” Lydia clarified. “And probably us, too.”  
  
“We need to go to Allison.” Danny said.  
  
“No, you need to stay here Danny...” Jackson rubbed a hand over his arm and looked to Lydia. “You go to her, we'll stay here, keep our ear to the ground. Stiles is planning something and there's bound to be an outcry.”  
  
Lydia set her house key down on the counter.  
  
“Stay safe, don't eat all of the food and lock up when you're done.” She leant in to kiss Danny on the crown of his head. “I'm sorry.”  
  
“I'll be fine, we'll add it to the group therapy.”  
  
“And if you hear an angry mob, run.” Jackson added, she could tell he was trying to make a joke, but there was an uncertainty between the three of them and the silence soon became deafening.  
  
“Don't touch my yoghurt.” Lydia pointed a finger at Jackson, walking from the kitchen and grabbing her red coat. “Also I'm walking there so one of you are going to have to pick me up.”  
  
  


“Angry mob seems likely.” Allison nodded uncertainly. “But... It sounds like as far as everybody is concerned, this... Greenberg? He's been murdered, inside the forest and unless Stiles planted something on the body there's no way to connect me to it.”  
  
“You seem to know what you're talking about.”  
  
“I've been thinking a lot, about my famiy, the hunts we did.”  
  
Lydia could see Allison fidigting with her hands, clenching them together until the knuckles turned white.  
  
“They would leave things at the scene and I always thought... If the wolves were so bad, then why did they have to leave evidence.” Allison shook her head, strands of hair falling free. “It's taken me so long to realise.”  
  
Lydia paused, adjusting her hold on Allison's hair and leaning forward to press a kiss to the nape of her neck before continuing to braid it slowly.  
  
“You know now.”  
  
“I'm not a murderer.”  
  
“You're not.” Lydia finished off the braid. “You wouldn't kill a harmless teenager to start whatever chain reaction you have planned. God, you gave Peter a chance to give up before you killed him.” Lydia shifted around Allison and settled in her lap. “You have a kind heart.”  
  
“Because of you, Red. You showed up and... I was in a dark place and I don't know how much longer I would have been able to continue this life, doomed to play cat and mouse with a pack of werewolves and always arriving too late to save another traveller.” Allison dropped her gaze, eyes falling shut. Lydia cupped her face in her hands and guided her face up to kiss her. “You saved me, Lydia. I owe you everything.”  
  
“Just let me keep you.” Lydia whispered, kissing her again. “Forever.”  
  
“Forever.” Allison nodded.

 

  
“Deaton didn't leave the clinic all weekend.” Danny explains as they walk towards their first class. “I went over all of the footage, even from the camera I put inside the waiting room.”  
  
“You put a camera... When?!”  
  
Danny waved a hand. “Details, either way, he didn't leave.”  
  
“People are agitated about Greenberg, they know it's not the wolves but with no suspects they're confused and scared...”  
  
“But?” Lydia prompted.  
  
“But, it's taking a lot of assurance from the sheriff to keep people from going into the forest.”  
  
“As long as they stay away, Allison is safe.”  
  
“But that's the thing, they know that the stabbing happened _in_ the forest.” Jackson replied.  
  
“So what do you think they're thinking?”  
  
“Either that there's a murderer hiding in the forest or someone lured them there to kill Greenberg. They'll probably still be interviewing his family and ruling them out.” Jackson shrugged.  
  
They came to a stop at his locker and waited as he opened it to collect his books.  
  
“So does this mean you two are going to be questioned? He was on the team.”  
  
“I don't think so?” Danny replied. “But if we do, the only alibi we have is eachother.”  
  
“You're fucked too.” Jackson added. “You slept in the forest that night and we were your alibi.”  
  
“Well then, lets just hope we get overlooked.”  
  
“What's the plan Lydia? It's already Monday, we have to have that knife by Wednesday.”  
  
“I don't know, shit, I don't know.” Lydia shook her head and sank against Danny's side. “We just need to get that knife.”  
  
“Is It time to lose the subtlety and just confront Deaton?” Jackson asked a little hopefully.  
  
“You just want to punch something.” Danny pointed out.  
  
“Damn right I do!” Jackson slammed his locker shut. “How many people has Deaton killed? Lydia's one true love has been trapped in a forest for twenty years because of a curse, which Is actually kind of a good thing because otherwise Allison would be a hot thirty seven year old, but my point still stands.” He adjusted the strap on his bag, expression still serious. “Stilinski _killed_ Scott McCall and Greenberg and he's planning something to fuck us all over so yeah, I want to break Deaton's fucking jaw for being the one to start this whole thing by using a curse that he clearly wasn't good enough to use even with Claudia's help.”  
  
“We can't let Deaton die.” Lydia said, frowning when the bell cuts through their conversation. “He needs to pay for everything, he doesn't get the easy way out.”  
  
“Agreed.” Danny nodded.  
  
“I still want to break his jaw, if possible.”  
  
“After we get the confession we need.” Lydia gave him a curt pat on the shoulder. “I think we all need to have a meeting with Allison after school, don't acknowledge Stiles, don't even let him get near you. We don't need to engage.”  
  
“And if he does?” Danny asked.  
  
“Refrain from punching him again.” Lydia looks pointedly at Jackson. “And don't give any information away.”  
  
“Well okay then. I'll see you in a while.”  
  
Lydia nodded at them and parted ways with her friends.

  
  
“Have you noticed that Stiles is actually avoiding us today?” Danny asked in a low voice, leaning across the table.  
  
Lydia chances a glance over to where Stiles is sitting with some other kids.  
  
“Is it me, or does he look... Scared?” Jackson frowned.  
  
He's right, every eight seconds or so, Stiles' gaze will flicker over to them before flitting quickly.  
  
He looks terrified.  
  
“It's an act.” Lydia shook her head. “It has to be.”  
  
“But why?” Danny pursed his lips. “Acting scared in a cafeteria full of people?”  
  
“Looking at _us_ every few seconds.” Lydia narrowed her eyes. “Do you...” She bit her lip.  
  
“Do we, what, Lydia?” Jackson asked.  
  
“Do you think that we were right and he's setting us up?” Lydia replied. “He's going to want Allison weak because he thinks that he needs a sacrifice to unlock his spark so he can bring his mother back. We're messing with his plan so he needs us out of the way.”  
  
“So how can he set us up?”  
  
Lydia shook her head. “I don't know, but we need to be careful.”  
  
“We go and update Allison and make a plan.” Lydia ran a hand through her hair. “We need to get that knife tonight, if I have to hide out there with Allison then I will. We need to act now before Stiles can do whatever it is he has planned for us.”  
  
“I would suggest we skip out now but...” Jackson's gaze moved to Stiles.  
  
“It's too telling.” Lydia nodded. “We just have to play it out.”  
  
“And then drive to the forest?”  
  
“Park a few blocks away, walk the rest.” Lydia replied.  
  
“You've been doing this too long Lyds.” Jackson shook his head.  
  
“Hopefully not for much longer.” Lydia sighed.  
  


“So the endgame is in sight...” Allison frowned, she played with the edges of the coffee cup. “If he's trying to set you all up, then being here is practically giving him a key.”  
  
“I know.” Lydia stilled Allison's hands, prying the empty cup from her. “But we need to figure out what to do about the knife.”  
  
“I just say we go and I beat it out of him.” Jackson shrugged.  
  
Allison pursed her lips and glanced at Lydia. “What do you think?”  
  
“I think we're running out of options.” Lydia replied, she shuffled closer to Allison, smiling when Allison placed her jacket over her shoulders. “I think I'm wearing this more than you.” She commented.  
  
“It looks good on you.” Allison shrugged. “And you looked cold.”  
  
“Stop being cute, people are dying.” Jackson groaned, though he cast a cautious glance at Danny.  
  
“Right, well I can't stop you from doing it, but if you're going to do it I need you safe.” Allison said, her eyes flickered to Danny and Jackson. “All of you.”  
  
“So that's it? No big plan?” Danny asked.  
  
“No need.” Jackson cracked his knuckles. “It's straightforward.”  
  
“He's right.” Lydia agreed. “Getting the knife is easy, outsmarting Stiles and whoever he sends our way is where we need to direct our attention.”  
  
Allison shifted to sit behind Lydia, wrapping her arms around Lydia's shoulders and pulling her against her.  
  
“This is why you should leave.” Allison pressed a kiss behind Lydia's ear.

“We'll go in a little while.” Lydia breathed, leaning into the touch. “I missed you.” She added, she hoped it didn't sound too much like 'I'm scared' but Allison tightened her arms in response so Lydia thinks that maybe Allison picked up on the hidden meaning.

“I can't wait for all of this to be over.” Danny said.  
  
“Likewise.” Jackson nodded. “I'll be glad to see the back of this forest.”  
  
“I'm going to miss it.” Allison placed a hand on the floor beside her. “I'm going to miss this place.”  
  
“Is there anything you want to bring back with you?” Lydia asked. “We can get the boys to move it out.”  
  
Allison waved a hand. “Just my bow, everything else can be left to rot.”  
  
“Everything?” Lydia looked around. “You made all of this stuff...”  
  
Allison shrugged. “And they had a good run but I can make new stuff, god, I can actually get a proper whittling kit instead of using a twenty year old knife and knives I carved out of deer bone.”

“Wow, easy there Tarzan.” Jackson held a hand up. “There won't be any more carving from bone, right?”  
  
Allison shrugged non-committally. “I need a hobby.”  
  
“Maybe stick to carving wood?”  
  
“Wait...” Danny smirked at Allison and Lydia. “Did she carve that little wooden wolf for you?”

Lydia felt herself blush, it only deepened when she felt Allison smile against her neck.  
  
“You still have it?”  
  
Jackson clicked his fingers, realisation dawning on his face. “The wolf on the dashboard!”  
  
“The what?” Allison asked.  
  
“I uh... Yeah, It's on the dashboard of my car, it makes me smile.” Lydia admitted.  
Lydia felt Allison's hand on her jaw and let her head be turned to the side so that Allison could meet her in a soft kiss.  
  
“I'll make you more.” Allison muttered. “Once this is over.”  
  
“Once i've gotten you free.” Lydia corrected.  
  
Allison kissed her again. “Yeah.”  
  
“We should go.” Jackson said.  
  
Lydia held onto Allison a little tighter. “But-”  
  
“You can do it Red.” Allison pulled back a little. “Just for a while.”  
  
“Fine.” Lydia sighed, releasing her grip on Allison. “Yeah..” She got to her feet and the rest followed, she began to take the jacket off but Allison held a hand up to stop her.  
  
“Keep it warm for me?” Allison asked, running her hands over the leather and using it to pull Lydia in for another kiss.  
  
“I can do that.”

  
  
For most of the walk back, they all walked side by side, the conversation was light and easy, mostly consisting of Allison pointing out various plant life to Danny while Jackson rolled his eyes. For a while Lydia actually forgot that in a few hours she would be breaking into the clinic with Jackson and Danny to steal from Deaton.  
  
Allison stopped suddenly, arm throwing out to still Danny and Jackson while her grip on Lydia's hand tightened.  
  
“What is it?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison's gaze was fixed ahead, looking around and narrowing her eyes.  
  
“I thought I could hear something.” Allison replied. She didn't falter, dropping down a little into a more defensive pose.  
  
“...Allison?” Danny frowned.  
  
“Ssh.” She slipped her bow from her back and grabbed an arrow. “Somebody is here. Keep behind me and stay quiet.”  
  
She pushed Lydia closer towards the boys, she didn't miss the look Allison gave to them both before she turned to begin walking. Danny took a light hold of her hand and squeezed it. They walked silently through the trees, matching Allison's pattern of movement as close as possible.  
Allison stopped again and Lydia was tense enough that the sudden stop made Lydia jolt. Allison crouched down next to where a few sprigs of wolfsbane was growing, touching her fingers to the petals, Lydia knelt down beside her and studied the tips of Allison's fingers.  
  
“Blood?”  
  
Allison's lips were set in a grim line, nodding once and looking forward again.  
  
“There's more there.” She gestured.  
  
“He's done it again, hasn't he?” Danny asked.  
  
Allison wiped her fingers on her jeans and stood up, Lydia put a hand on Allison's shoulder, just to feel the muscles tense.  
  
“I would have heard a scream... Disturbance...” Allison looked up at the trees. “It's silent.”  
  
She stepped out of Lydia's hold and began to walk again.  
  
“So this is the hunter.” Jackson observed. “She's... Different.”  
  
Lydia raised an eyebrow at him, until they kissed she never really thought about Allison and her hunter side as two different persona's but then again, she's spent so much more time with Allison, she knows Allison better than anybody else alive, can see the effect of being a hunter and raised the way she was has had an effect on her. But she can also see her humanity, the mercy she had for Peter before he forced her hand.  
They don't speak again as they follow blood splatters, Allison pauses when they come across a smear on a tree and for the next few feet, the blood streaking the floor becomes more obvious, easier to spot.  
  
“What has he done?” Jackson asked nobody in particular.  
  
Lydia bumped into Allison, missing how she stopped.  
  
“I don't think you have to go to Deaton's any more.” Allison said simply, crouching down, she lifted a familiar looking knife for them all to see.  
It looked like the knife from the pictures, that's for sure, only now it's drenched in blood.  
  
“Wait...” Lydia frowned. She reached into her bag and pulled out the picture of Claudia, she narrowed her eyes to strain to see the details, the picture was over twenty years old and it had been taken from a distance but Lydia could still make out the faint detailing on the blade.  
  
“It's not the same blade...” Allison said. “I know I saw it in the dark but...” She shook her head. “I remember touching it, It felt like it had veins, like a leaf.”  
  
“It's called venation.”  
  
“I haven't been in school for twenty years, Lydia.” Allison replied stiffly. “But yeah, I felt veins.”  
  
To prove her point, Allison brushed her finger through the blood to reveal a sleek finish.  
  
“It's a fake?” Jackson frowned.  
  
Lydia turned to Danny. “You said Deaton didn't leave his clinic all weekend, right?”  
  
“How the fuck could he make a knife in the office?” Jackson replied.  
  
“If you're desperate enough you can do anything.” Allison span the knife around in her hand. “We need to get you guys out of here.”  
  
“We need to see who he killed and why he left the knife behind.” Lydia replied. She gestured forward. “We're close to the clearing.”  
  
“Come on then.” Allison forced a smile, slipping the blade of the knife through a belt loop to keep it secure.

They began to walk again, Lydia close to Allison's side as they reached the edge. Lydia turned to Allison to kiss her as Danny and Jackson stepped through to the other side.  
  
“Allison-”  
  
“There! They're the thralls!” A voice screamed.  
  
Lydia's head whipped to the clearing before moving back to Allison's, panic etched on her face. They moved forward as much as Allison could and froze, Danny and Jackson stumbled back towards them.  
There were two police cars, sirens flashing, Lydia counted at least half a dozen cops, shreriff included, just stood staring back at them.  
  
“That's the witch!”  
  
Lydia looked to the source of the voice, only to see Stiles being wheeled into the back of an amublance, one of the EMTs holding a bloodsoaked gauze to her shoulder.  
  
“He fucking stabbed himself.” Jackson muttered.  
  
And with his words, the stunned expressions of the cops dissipated and Lydia soon found herself staring back at the barrels of six guns.  
  
“Drop your weapons!” The nearest one barked.  
  
“Get down on your knees!”  
  
“Allison, run, i'll come back for you.” Lydia turned to her and told her firmly.  
  
“Lydia, I'm not-”  
  
Lydia pulled her in and kisses her roughly, desperately, before shoving Allison away as hard as she could manage. “Run!” She turned to face the cops and held her hands up, Danny and Jackson copied her.  
  
“Allison, go. We'll protect her.” Jackson said, eyes locked on Stiles.  
  
“I love you. Stay safe.”  
  
“Go, go, go!” The sheriff yelled. Three of the cops ran towards them and Lydia dropped to her knees immediately, Danny and Jackson following suit. The cops ran past them and after Allison, Lydia resisted the urge to look back after her.  
  
“She'll be fine.” Jackson whispered.  
  
The sheriff and the remaining cops approached the three of them.  
  
“You're under arrest.” The sheriff said, gun trained on Lydia.  
  
“What are we being charged with?” Jackson demanded.  
  
“Conspiracy to murder and attempted murder.” He holstered his gun and grabbed his handcuffs. “Thralls or not, magic only works inside of the forest, you could have walked away.”  
  
Lydia let herself be handcuffed and grit her teeth against the sharp press of metal.

“What the fuck is a thrall?!” Jackson yelled, Lydia watched him being dragged away to the farthest cop car.  
  
“A slave, captive, somebody under the control of a magical being.” Danny called back, just as he was being pushed into the back of a car.  
  
“Don't say anything to them!” Jackson yelled, struggling against the hold of his cop. “Wait for my father!”

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The hunter will die under the moon.”

  
  
“How long have we been here?” Lydia asked, pulling on her handcuffs and glaring out of the bars at the cop watching us.  
  
Danny leant to the side, face pressed up against the bars. “Two hours.” He replied. The sound of Jackson yelling could be heard down the hallway.  
  
“I think he's still trying to get his phone call.”

“Well, it is within our rights.” Lydia said loud enough to catch the attention of the guard. “I just hope she's okay.” She added quietly.  
  
Danny met her gaze and pursed his lips and they fell back into silence, occasionally hearing the hushed whisper between officers and the ringing of the phone could be heard from the reception area.  
She was trying to piece together the information, Stiles had used himself as bait, how had he done it? Had he followed them to the forest? Called his dad and span his web of lies before stabbing himself and luring them there?  
It was clever, she had to give him that. He was playing the hurt victim while they were rotting in a holding cell and Allison was definitely being chased down by cops now.  
  
“You're all idiots.” Jackson dead panned.

Lydia and Danny both looked up as the door to the cell was unlocked and Jackson was pushed in. “Seriously, I know he's the sheriff's son but for fucks sake, really?” Jackson shook his head and walked over to drop to the bench beside Danny.  
“Mahealani, you're up.”  
  
“Jacks?” Danny glanced at him, standing up and walking towards the doors.  
  
“I called my father, he'll be on his way after he's dealt with... Something. Don't talk. He'll be here soon.”  
  
Danny nodded and walked from the cell, Lydia watched them go, shooting one more glare at the guard and leaning forward towards Jackson.

“Okay so the sheriff just left, like right as I finished talking to my father, I heard something about a mob.”  
  
“A mob?”  
  
Jackson nodded. “Word must have gotten out, somehow.”  
  
Lydia scoffed. “In other words, Stiles leaked the info when he got to the hospital.” Worry leapt to the front of her mind. “But a mob... That means...”  
  
“They're after Allison.” Jackson nodded. “The sheriff is going to try and diffuse the situation which is good for us-”  
  
“ _How?_ ”  
  
“Because it gives my father time to get us out.”  
  
“And if not?” Lydia asked.  
  
Jackson shrugged, looking at the guard from the corner of his eye. “We're already on suspicion for murder.”  
  
Lydia sat back and brought her cuffed hands to her face to push her hair back.

  
  
Danny was brought back to them almost and hour later and urged back into the cell and the three were left alone once more.

“Sheriff is on his way back, wants to interview us all-”  
  
“Be quiet in there!” The guard snapped. “Don't make me separate you.”  
  
“They're gearing up, bringing in the K-9 unit.” Danny barrelled on. “It's how he's appeased the mob.”  
  
“With a witch hunt?” Lydia got to her feet, ignoring how Danny and Jackson shook their heads. “Did we learn nothing from Salem?” She turned to the guard. “That shit doesn't work!”

“How do you know?” Jackson asked hurriedly.

“These guys can't be subtle for shit.” Danny replied. “Overheard them, watched a couple go break out the assault rifles.”  
  
“Assault rifles?!” Lydia exclaimed. “What do you mean?!”  
  
“She'll be fine, Lydia." He glanced over to the officer. "Looks like you're up."  
  
  
  
Lydia sat in the interrogation room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She wondered if she was being watched, wondered if they had split up Danny and Jackson.  
She was more concerned about this witch hunt they had started in Allison's honour. Was this part of Stiles' plan?  
She shook her head, knowing that a cup of coffee was definitely in need right about now. She had lost track of time, for all she knew, it could be the early hours of Tuesday morning if the ache in her body, the back of her eyes and rumbling stomach was anything to go by.  
She needed to figure out how to get out of this, they had to get to Deaton, get the real knife and get to Allison by the full moon.  
This was her only chance to free Allison and she wasn't going to let Stiles destroy this for her.  
The door opened and an equally tired looking sheriff stepped through, closing it with his hip and walking over to set two polysterine cups of honestly terrible looking coffee down in front of her.  
  
“You know I won't talk without my lawyer.” Lydia said simply, grasping the cup in her hands and sipping at the coffee. It was even worse than it looked but it did the trick.  
  
“He's on his way.” The sheriff replied, sitting back in his seat. “And you don't have to talk, but I want _you_ to listen.”  
  
Lydia forced herself to hold his eye and sip at her coffee, she nodded, it's not like she has a choice.  
  
“You see, Lydia, I wasn't sure I believed Stiles. After all, a curse that stopped the magic running to the town. I believed him even less when he said there was a witch living there and using the magic for immortality, thought it was shock from the stab wound”  
  
They both sat in silence as the sheriff took another sip of his coffee, leaving the silence pointed.  
  
“And then you and your friends stumble out and I see _her._ Looking exactly the same as she did when her and her family walked into town over twenty years ago.”  
  
“She isn't a witch.” Lydia replied.  
  
“She lives in the forest."  
  
“Yes. And she was trapped there, by _your_ wife.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. She cursed herself for letting her exhaustion get to her.  
  
“My wife was a druid, she was a good person.” The sheriff replied, fingers tightening around the cup.  
  
“I'm not saying that she wasn't. Her intentions were good and that's why Deaton did whatever he did and killed her.”  
  
“That Argent really has poisoned your mind. I don't think I've ever dealt with a thrall before.”  
  
“I'm not a thrall, I have full control of my mind and I'm telling you, even though I really shouldn't because you definitely don't believe me because you don't _want_ to believe that Stiles is the one behind the death of Scott and Greenberg, Allison is the victim in this.”  
  
“You're wearing her jacket.”  
  
“Nice observation, sheriff. Good to know you earn that paycheck.” She said as sarcastically as she could manage.  
  
“Why are you wearing it?”  
  
“It was cold.”  
  
“Why did she stab my son?”  
  
“She didn't. She was with me, Danny and Jackson. We were walking back to the tree line when we noticed blood and then we found a knife and then you start arresting us.” Lydia shrugged, sipping her coffee. “You really shouldn't be conducting this investigation sheriff, you're clearly biased. It's rather unfair... I'm wondering if any of this will hold up in court.”  
  
Jackson would be proud of her.  
  
The sheriff stared her, in surprise or anger, she couldn't be sure. He set the cup down and clasped his hands on the table.  
  
“I'm perfectly capable of behaving without bias.”  
  
“Your son is a murderer yet he gets to rest up in a nice comfortable hospital while me and my friends are handcuffed against our will.” Lydia set her own cup down. “I'm done talking. I'll wait for my lawyer.”  
  
The sheriff raised an eyebrow. “Aren't you going to demand your phone call?”  
  
“Nobody worth calling.” Lydia replied. “I could do with a bathroom break and something to eat though.”  
  
“Well I'll keep that in mind. I'll have someone take you back to your cell.”

 

“Your father is here.” It's Danny's voice that jerks Lydia awake. She lifts her head from Danny's shoulder and looks through the bars where she can hear Mr Whittmore's voice echoing through the station.  
  
“What time is it?” Lydia asked, voice thick with sleep.  
  
“I don't know. They took the clock down.”  
  
“He took his time.” Danny yawned.  
  
"The sheriff probably kept him away for as long as he could." Jackson turned his head and grimaced at the sound of his neck cracking.   
  
“Hopefully that means he's spent all this time going over our confessions, coming up with a case and knowing just what angles to play to get us out.” Lydia replied.  
  
“Dad.” Jackson looked away from Lydia at the door.  
  
“Sorry i'm late.” He looks to the sheriff. “Care to open the door? I would like ten minutes with my clients.” He paused to look the sheriff up and down. “Alone.” He added.  
  
Lydia caught Jackson's smirk as the sheriff unlocked the door and promptly walked away.  
  
Mr Whittemore watched him leave and walked in to sit beside Jackson, all of them leant in close.  
  
“Look, I have some questions about what it is you three are involved in, I'm not saying that I don't believe you, in fact, your information makes more sense than the story being told by the sheriffs kid.”  
  
“Ask away.” Lydia replied. “But I need to get out as soon as possible.”  
  
“Let's start from the beginning.”  
  
  
Ten minutes stretched into an hour and into two, Lydia, Danny and Jackson explained every detail, they left no room for error. Lydia made a point of explaining exactly why she had to get out before Wedneday night.  
Eventually Mr Whittemore nodded, looking quiet and thoughtful as he left.  
When he returned he got them all bathroom breaks and a terrible sandwich that was at least two days old.  
  
  
“So what's the word on the outside?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Stiles is recovering well, it was only a cut really and required a few stitches. He's on bed rest in the hospital.”  
  
“And the cops?”  
  
“Patrolling, all available officers around the clock. The last I heard was they found a tree house. They're collecting evidence from it now.”  
  
Lydia ran her hands through her hair. Allison's home was compromised, she was on the run, Lydia just hoped that she had some hiding spots, somewhere to rest up.  
  
“So what's the plan?”  
  
“The sheriff is watching your confessions right now.”  
  
“Those videos are almost three hours long.” Danny said.  
  
“Another officer is going to want to take your statements, after that, catch up on some sleep. It's...” He checked his watch. “Almost nine.”  
  
“At night?!” Lydia exclaimed.  
  
“Shit, we've been in here since Monday evening...”  
  
“And they're planning on holding you all as long as possible.”  
  
“I need to get out, I need to get that knife from Deaton, I need to break the curse.”  
  
“I'll do what I can Lydia, they're not budging. I need time.”  
  
“We don't have time.” Lydia protested.  
  
Mr Whittemore hesitated, sharing a look with Jackson.  
  
“Just give me until noon tomorrow.”  
  
“And if you can't get us out?” Lydia asked.  
  
“Then we'll consider... Other options.”  
  
The look Jackson gave her was all the answer Lydia needed.

  
  
Mr Whittemore didn't return until ten in the morning, he barely spared them all a glance before he walked into the sheriffs office. She knows that they can be held for seventy two hours before they get charged and that the sheriff hadn't missed the opportunities to try and question them, the only problem was, he was still convinced that they were under some form of spell, he just refused to believe that they were innocent and that his own son had lied to him. Not to mention that she felt so gross and definitely needed a shower, but she was still willing to push it away for the priority of saving Allison.

“You're nervous.” Jackson said.

“I have to get out of here, get the knife, get to the forest, find Allison and break the curse by before we lose the moon. I haven't slept, i've barely eaten. Yeah, i'm nervous.”

“We'll get out of here.” Danny assured her. “We'll-”

“Yeah I totally saw the witch, pretty sure I grazed her before she gave me the slip too.” An officer said as he walked past the cell.

“Jackson, I don't care what we have to do. Just get us out of here.” Lydia hissed.

Allison was hurt and she was out there, she was no doubt exhausted and weak she won't be able to carry on for much longer.

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Allison is weak. Vulnerable.” Lydia replied. “Stiles can get her.”

Jackson got to his feet, walking over to the bars of the cell and rattling his handcuffs against them until a cop showed up.

“Stop that!”

“I need to speak to my father.” Jackson demanded.

The cop muttered under his breath and within a few minutes, Mr Whittemore was at the cell, Jackson leant in close to whisper into his ear.

“Are you sure?”

“Dad, we don't have a choice. Will you help us?”

“Of course I will. But for all of your sakes you better hope that Lydia is right.”

“I am.” Lydia replied.

Mr Whittemore smiled. “The sheriff left about ten minutes ago, he'll be back and then we'll get into action.”

  
  
Lydia could see the sun beginning to set as the three of them were led out of their cells and to the reception area. Jackson's father walked past them, pressing his hand against Jackson's jacket and walking around them.  
The sheriff and two other cops were stood in front of them, the sheriff talking on the phone. He muttered his goodbye and slipped the phone into his pocket.

“Sorry about that, lets make this fast.”

“Is everything okay, sheriff?”

“My son checked himself out of hospital a little while ago. Probably sick of all of the news reporters trying to get an inside scoop.”  
His phone rang again and he muttered a curse before answering it quickly.

“What's wrong?” He asked. There was a long pause. “Okay, I'll send the K-9 unit. If she's injured she'll be easier for them to track, I want her brought in alive.” He hung up.  
Lydia shot a panicked look to Jackson, whose face was perfectly blank.

“My clients are ready to make a full confession.” Mr Whittemore said.

“Is that so?” The sheriff looked at them from over his shoulder.

“On a few conditions, of course.”

“Of course.”

Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention and Lydia looked back to Jackson who was reaching for the keys attatched to the belt of the officer in front of him. He opened one of the cuffs silently, keeping his hands close to his chest, he moved slowly as to not draw attention and held out the key for her.

“Slowly.” He mouthed.

Lydia nodded and took the key from his hand, finding herself tuning out the conversation around her and listening to the scrape of the key inside the cuff and letting out a low breath when the lock clicks and her left wrist comes free. She sees Jackson make another gesture and she mimics his actions from earlier and hands the key to Danny.

“Lydia.” Jackson whispers.

She turns to him and he nods towards the sheriff's belt. Lydia narrows her gaze in confusion as he mouths something incoherent.

“What?” She mouths.

“Get. The. Keys.” He mouths back, stressing each word.

Lydia looks back to the sheriffs belt and sees the keys to his cruiser attached to the belt.  
She shoots him a look that hopefully conveys her confusion and the general 'what the fuck' feeling.

“Do it.”

Lydia nods and takes a breath, flexing her hands and steeling herself. Lydia lunges forward and grabs the key with one hand, using the other to shove the sheriff towards Mr Whittemore, Jackson and Danny both shove the officers in front of them and before Lydia can really think, Jackson is grabbing her arm and yanking her towards the exit.

“Give me the keys!” He yelled, snatching them from her grasp and sprinting ahead.

Lydia follows him out, hearing Danny curse behind her as they run to the cruiser, Jackson sliding over the hood to get around to the drivers seat and throwing himself inside, Lydia and Danny following suit, all clambering into the front.

“Oh my god we're so fucked.” Danny exclaimed. Jackson accelarated away from the scene and all three of them flinched as the siren began to wail.

“Oh for fucks sake.” Jackson hissed, hitting random buttons to no avail. “Shut it off!”

Lydia braced her hand against the window of the the passenger side and the back of Jackson's seat and kicked at the centre console until the siren spluttered and died.  
The three of them fell into a silence before Danny started to laugh.

“Oh my god it's a good fucking thing your dad is a good lawyer.”

“We're so fucked.” Jackson laughed.

“We stole the sheriffs car. We _escaped_ police custody.”

“Yeah and Stiles left the hospital, so we need to get to Deaton, now.” Lydia replied.

“We only have a couple of hours.”

“Okay then.” Jackson put his foot down. “Lets go save the hunter.”  


  
Jackson parked around the back, despite how much she hated that they were running on borrowed time, but the cover of darkness did help them hide, especially with their new title of wanted fugitives.  
They walked quickly and quietly to the front of the building, Jackson paused with his hand on the handle.

“Door is broken, someone forced their way in.” He said,

“Stiles.” Danny and Lydia replied in unison.

Jackson opened the door and they all piled in, walking through the dark of the room, following the faint strip of light seeping in from under the door to Deaton's office.  
Lydia pushed the door open, grimacing at the sight.  
Deaton lifted his head slowly and met her gaze, smiling through bloody teeth.

“I was wondering when you would show up.”

Lydia walked over and knelt down beside him. “Well, we've had some trouble with the law.” Her eyes scanned over his body, taking in the various stab wounds. “I didn't think he would leave you alive.”

“He has better things to do.”

Danny knelt down on the other side of Deaton and applied gauze to the worst of the stab wounds.

“Such as?”

“The hunter will die under the moon.” Deaton replied.

“Not if I can help it.” Lydia snapped. “Where's the knife? I know the one Stiles cut himself with was a fake.”

Deaton laughed. “You're just like your grandmother.”

“We don't have time for this.” Jackson said, he moved to crouch beside Lydia, one hand in his pocket and the other digging into Deaton's shoulder, right above one of his stab wounds. “Now it looks to me like you're on your deathbed. So unless you want to be in a lot of pain you should probably tell us how we can take down Stiles.”

“Peter is dead.” Lydia added. “Nobody is coming after you now.”

“Claudia always said that we weren't strong enough to cast the curse, it wasn't our design.”

Lydia frowned at looked up at Danny. “Is he delirious?” she asked quietly.

Danny pursed his lips and shook his head, fixing the gauze in place and reaching for another, clearly he picked some things up from his mother.

“She talked about that knife and what It could do... Always thought it was a legend until Talia overheard Lorraine talk about it... She was beginning to lose her mind, Talia could tell so-”

“You stole it.” Lydia deadpanned. “You stole from my grandmother.”

“It should only ever be in the possession of somebody with magical aptitude. Your father has no power.”

“But I do. By all definitions that blade should belong to me.” Lydia cut him off angrily. “How did she get the knife?”

“It was given to her... By a fae.”

“A fae?” Jackson made a face.

“Her human name was Madison.”

“So you stole a weapon that once belonged to a fae, why? To what end?” Danny asked.

“We knew what it was capable of achiving. We also knew the Argents were going to be a threat, we watched them as they watched that family. We were too slow to stop the attack but I wasn't going to allow them to get away with it.”

“So you cursed them.”

“We weren't strong enough to make it hold like it was written, even though we followed the instructions perfectly.”

“You didn't create the curse.”

“But we got as close as we could.” Deaton continued, he blinked slowly as he tried to keep his gaze on Lydia. “After a few years, Claudia began to regret. She wanted to try and break it but I couldn't allow it.”

“So you killed her. You killed Claudia Stilinski?” Jackson asked, voice growing louder.

“I had no choice.”

“And you killed countless others.”

“The curse had to stay.”

“And you were happy to continue until you died, but then Stiles found out about his mother and you had to cover your tracks.”  
  
Deaton shook his head. “He said he doesn't need me now, as far as he's aware, he just needs to kill the hunter and he'll have his mother back.”

“And that's that. Everything that has gone wrong with the town is directly and entirely your fault.” Jackson said.

“And nobody will believe you.” Deaton replied through a laugh. “I'll take my confession to the grave with me.”

“Actually...” Jackson smirked, Deaton's laughter stopped and he frowned at Jackson. Lydia watched Jackson pull a phone from his pocket, the screen showing a microphone and a timer reading over ten minutes. Jackson's smirk broke out into a full grin. “Gift, courtesy of my father.” He shrugged, hitting pause.  
  
Lydia shook her head and laughed. “He slipped it into your pocket at the station.”  
  
“Fine. It doesn't matter. I'm going to die here, I won.”

“Actually...” Danny spoke up, sitting back slightly. “While you were busy giving your monologue I actually managed to stop most of the bleeding, the injuries you sustained would have been life threatening if Stiles was as good as stabbing as he was at acting.” He grinned a little, cleaning the blood from his hands with an antiseptic wipe.

Lydia laughed, a little disbelievingly, grinning at the satisfied grins on her friends faces before she settled on Deaton. He looked rightfully terrified.

“Well then Deaton.” She said as cheerfully as she could manage. “It looks like you've lost.” She gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and pushed herself to her feet.

“We should probably give our good friend the sheriff a call, have him send somebody to pick you up.”

“Now where's the knife?” Jackson asked. “Tell us and i'll have my father work your case, have him get you a more... Lenient sentence.”

It's a blatant lie, Lydia can tell and so can Danny if the slight roll of his eyes is anything to go by. But at this point, Deaton isn't in any position to deny any help at all, so wisely, he nods.

“Under the desk, there's a button.”

Danny crawled under the desk, hands sliding along the wood until he made a sound of triumph, a click followed and a hidden compartment revealed itself. Lydia wanted to sigh at how James Bond it was but instead focused on the blade inside, lifting it carefully and testing just how light weight it was, no wonder it was special, if it belonged to a fae then it wasn't even from this world.

“How do I break the curse?” Lydia asked.

“I don't know. I didn't design it.”

“Lydia, we're running out of time.” Jackson said quietly.

Lydia cursed under her breath. “What do we do with him?”

“I'll stay. You two go on ahead.” Danny replied.

“Are you sure?” Jackson asked.

Danny glared at him. “If we fuck this up Lydia will cut our balls off, go. I'll catch up.” He looked to Lydia. “Go save the town.”

Lydia smiled and spared one last glare at Deaton while Jackson threw Danny his phone and a pair of handcuffs.

“Just in case he tries anything.” Jackson warned.

“You got it.” Danny winked.

Jackson hesitated for a moment before punching Deaton in the face, a loud crunch came from the mans jaw as he recoiled.   
  
"I've been waiting so long to do that." Jackson sighed happily. 

Lydia grabbed Jackson's arm. “Lets do this.” She said.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It's okay.” Allison replied quietly. “I'm okay...”

 

  
“So do you have a plan?” Jackson asks as he twists the wheel sharply, Lydia clings onto the door handle.  
  
“Beyond finding Allison? No.”  
  
Jackson smirks. “True loves kiss is still on the table you know.”  
  
“I'm seriously considering it.” Lydia replied. She held the knife in her hands. “I really hoped that Deaton knew the fail safe.”

Jackson hummed, grinning and drifting the car around the next turn, laughing at Lydia's squeak.  
  
“You're enjoying this!”  
  
“It's not everyday you get to steal the sheriff's cruiser.” Jackson replied.  
  
“Yeah and I would like to live to see the end of it thank you.” Lydia snapped back. “Just get me to the forest.”

“She'll be fine, Lydia.”

“They're hunting her, she needs me.”

Jackson pressed on the accelerator. “We'll get there. Think Lydia, if _you_ created that curse, what would your fail safe be?”

“The knife, I would choose a spot in the forest, a tree, something nobody would think anything differently of and stab it, nobody would expect it, it's the last thing anyone would think to do.”

“Stab it?” Jackson frowned. “That's it? You can do that?”

“You know how Danny creates apps and stuff?”

Jackson nods, reaching with one hand to play with the buttons on the console. “The amount of times I’ve woken up to him writing code... Why?”

“Think of a curse like one of Danny's programmes. You control every detail.”

“So what you're saying is that you, as a spark are a programmer and the world is just code that you can manipulate?”

“That's actually a really good way to put it.” Lydia nodded.

“You're smart Lydia. You can read people, figure out what they're doing. You're gifted. Your grandmother would be proud.”

“So are you.” Lydia replied. “If the last twenty four hours is anything to go by, you can be an incredible lawyer.”

Jackson laughed, shaking his head. “Did you see Danny though?”

“He's gonna be either a doctor or a hacker.”

“Please, he could be both.” Jackson replied. “What about Allison? Aside from hunting.”

“Private investigator, easy.”

“We should team up.” Jackson said. “The dream team.”

“Cute.” Lydia replied. “We have company.”

“The entire police squad closing off the forest where your girlfriend, aka prime murder suspect and apparent witch is hiding? Yeah, surprising.”  
Lydia pursed her lips as Jackson slowed down, there was no way she could sneak past that many of them.

“They have fucking spotlights on the tree line!” Lydia gestured.

Jackson frowned, his attention focused back on the centre console, he lifted what looked like a walkie talkie, a wire connected it to the dashboard.

“Think this is a loudspeaker?” He asked.

“I think it's entirely likely.” Lydia nodded.

“Oh, good.”

“Good?”

“Get out of the car, Lydia.”

“Jackson, what?”

Jackson turned to her and grinned. “Get out.”

Lydia fumbled for the handle, she closed the door and leant against the frame and stared at Jackson questioningly through the open window.

“Go ahead, save the hunter.”

“What are you going to do?” She asked.

“What I do best.” Jackson replied.

“And what is that?”

Jackson smacked the console with the back of his hand, Lydia stepped back from the car and brought a hand up to her face to block out the brightness of the flashing lights as the sirens came to life. Jackson brought the walkie talkie to his mouth.

“Being the centre of attention.” He said, voice coming through a speaker, loud enough that no doubt the cops by the forest heard. He hit the accelerator again, driving towards the crowd, yelling obscenities through the speaker.  
  
Lydia watched the cops all scramble towards their cars as Jackson deliberately brought the cruiser as close to the spotlights as possible, knocking them over and sending the forest into darkness.

Lydia wasn't going to waste the opportunity and ran towards the forest, keeping her head down.  
She just hoped she could get to Allison before the cops or Stiles could.

   
  


Lydia could hear dogs, to her right and if she really focused her gaze she was sure she could make out flash lights, the occasional silhouette of a figure. Lydia kept moving forward, there was no point trying the tree house, it had been compromised.  
She had to think like Allison, she would be somewhere close to where Lydia would find her, she knows Lydia needs her to break the curse. The burnt out Hale house was too far away, the lake was too close to the house. There was only one obvious place and honestly, it was the only place Lydia would go.

She slowed to a brisk walk, training her ears on every sound, the barking from the K-9 unit was nearby, Lydia took that to mean that they were close on Allison's tail.  
Lydia stopped moving when she heard more movement coming from somewhere behind her.

“Lydia run!” She heard Allison's voice before she could see the girl. The barking was suddenly closer and behind her, Lydia span just as Allison tumbled over a trunk, landing heavily on her back, a dog landing on her chest and snapping at her throat. Allison had her hands fisted into the fur of the dogs neck to hold it back. Lydia watched helplessly as Allison struggled.

“Allison-” Lydia started forward when a hulking black figure sprinted past her, tackling the dog off of Allison, Allison rolled onto her front, coughing and gasping against the ground. Three smaller, sleeker figures ran after the retreating hound, snarling as they went.  
Lydia ran to Allison, dropping to her knees as Allison tried to push herself up onto her knees and chokes out a cry.

“What's wrong?” Lydia asked. Grabbing Allison by her arms and pulling her closer. 

“I'm fine.” Allison gritted out, she pulled away from Lydia and tried to get to her feet, stumbling to her knees and falling backwards onto her back.  
  
"You're not fine." Lydia shook her head, she ran a hand over Allison's body, down her calf and snatching her hand away when her hand met moisture and Allison hissed in pain.

“Okay so I got bit.” Allison muttered, she grimaced as she pressed a hand to the injury. "It's not that bad."

"Allison..." Lydia sighed, leaning her head forward and pressing her forehead to the side of Allison's head. "I tried to get here sooner."  
  
"It's okay Lyds." Allison replied. "I'm okay."  
  
Lydia opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a low growl and she couldn't help but grab onto Allison's arm, head snapping to where Allison's gaze was locked. She gasped at the hulking black mass as it shifted into something distinctly more... Human, red eyes flashing. Beside her, Allison laughed.   
  
"Derek Hale."

“Allison.” He growled back.

“You've changed.”

“You haven't.”

The two of them shared a look, Allison leant heavily against Lydia, breathing heavily.  
  
"How injured are you?" He asked.  
  
"Nothing severe"  
  
"Can your spark break the curse?"  
  
Allison turned to look at Lydia, smiling. "She's a force to be reckoned with."  
  
Derek nodded. "We'll lure the dogs away from you." He looked over to Lydia and she was honestly just thankful that he was crouching because there was definitely some nudity going on there and... No thanks. He turned his head to the right, snarling slightly.  
  
"Go, we'll hold them off."

Lydia hooked her arms under Allison's and pulled her up to her feet, Allison hissed under her breath, but was definitely forcing herself to remain steady and stepped out of Lydia's grasp. 

“Is there anybody nearby?” She asked.

Derek looked around, probably sniffing the air before shaking his head. “Not in the immediate area.”

“Good.”

“Good luck hunter.”

“You too, wolf.”

Derek growled again, turning his back to the and shifting as he ran after his pack.  
Allison sagged a little against Lydia. Lydia turned so that she could kiss Allison, finally, _finally_ kiss her.

“Are you okay?” Allison asked.

“I'm fine, I have the knife.”

“You're incredible.” Allison kissed her again. “You can explain later. Do you know how to break the curse?”

Lydia shook her head. “Lets just get to the tree, can you walk?”

Allison stepped away from Lydia, stumbling a little but nodding. With the light of the moon, Lydia could see Allison's torn clothes, her bow and quiver were gone, all that remained was her knives strapped to her thigh.

“Come on, you can explain on the way.” Allison grabbed her hand.

The two of them moved through the trees, Allison making a conscious effort to hide her limp from Lydia.

“The knife belonged to my grandmother.” Lydia said. “It was given to her by a fae.”

“Then I guess that it's come back home then.” Allison replied.

“Danny is at the clinic, making sure that Deaton doesn't escape or try anything. Jackson is probably being arrested right now.” Allison flashed her a look of confusion. “I needed a distraction so that I could get in.” She shrugged.

Allison stumbled again, cursing under her breath. Lydia grabbed her arm and guided it over her shoulder, taking Allison's weight.

“I've got you Allison.”

“You've always had me.”

“Be charming later. I'm trying to save you here.”

Allison laughed again, eyes glancing down at the knife still in Lydia's hand. “So I guess it belongs to you now.”

“I guess. Had Deaton not stolen it, it probably would have been left to me in her will.”

“If it belonged to a fae...” Allison paused to take a shaky breath. “Your grandmother must have been very important to them. But... But then the knife is connected to the forest, isn't it?”

“It seems that way.”

Allison nodded. She looked around again and stopped in her tracks.

“Allison?”  
  
Allison held a hand up. "Ssh."  
  
Lydia pursed her lips and looked around, following Allison's line of sight.  
  
"Move!" Allison shoved Lydia and threw herself to the other side as a glass vial smashed on the ground between them, Lydia gasped as flames rose between them.

“Lydia! Are you hurt?”

Lydia scrambled to her feet, moving as far away from the flames as she could. “I'm fine.”

Allison leapt through the flames, arms shielding her face and checking over herself to make sure she was free of any embers. She did the same to Lydia's arms before grabbing Lydia and stumbling over her feet to lead them both away, shielding her from the flames with her body. 

“What the fuck was that?” Allison asked.  
  
Lydia looked back at the glowing flames. She heard another shattering a few feet away and the tell-tale roar of flames.

“Self igniting Molotov cocktail... I mentioned it in class once...”  
  
Allison remained silent as they moved, directing her towards the clearing.

“It's Stiles, isn't it?” She asked.

“It has to be.” Lydia replied, hand tightening around her knife as Allison reaches for her own.

“Just keep moving Lydia, I won't let him-” Allison's words were cut off by a strangled cry, her body falling forward and almost dragging Lydia with her. A figure that could only be Stiles clinging to her back.

“Allison!” Lydia started forward.  
  
“Stay there!” Allison yelled back. She brought her elbow back into Stiles' face and knocked him off of her. Stiles fell back, hand gripping what looked like a scalpel, waving it towards Allison.

“You have my knife.” He said simply.

Allison had a hand gripping her shoulder, blood dripping between her fingers. “You left it behind.”  
  
“Lydia.” Stiles turned his head to smile at her. “Thank you for giving me the recipe for that cocktail, I never thought it would come in so handy.”

“If you touch her, I'll cut your hand off.” Allison gasped out.

“Don't worry Argent, I'm not interested in hurting her. It's _you_ that I want.”

“I'm already taken.” Allison replied, pushing herself to her feet shakily. “Grief is hard. I lost my family. You still have your father. You can walk away from this.”

“You're a murderer!” Stiles yelled, storming forward. “Your entire family are murderers! Your name is ruined!”

“I'm not a murderer.” Allison replied. “My family were, they were ruthless monsters but I’m not them. They're a lesson to be learned from and I'm going to make sure people like them don't exist.”

“The only way you're going to leave this forest, is in a body bag!” Stiles launched forward again, slashing at Allison frantically. The two of them ended up rolling around on the ground, exchanging punches and kicks, Allison cried out ever few seconds until she finally kicked him in the square of his chest, sending him back.  
Lydia took her chance and ran forward, tightening her grip on her knife and grabbing the boy by the scruff of the neck, pulling him back and bringing the hilt down on the back of his head hard.  
Allison was on her knees, hand clutching her side. Lydia kicked him to make sure he was definitely unconscious before stepping over him to drop down beside Allison. She pressed her hand to Allison's, feeling how Allison tried to flinch away. 

“Allison.” Lydia grabbed her jaw. “Allison, look at me.” 

 Allison lifted her head, tears in her eyes, Lydia moved her other hand to Allison's shoulder where she could feel another puncture wound and pressed down on it. 

Allison gave a slight gasp. “Are you okay?”

Lydia could have cried. Pausing to press her forehead into Allison's uninjured shoulder. “You're hurt.”

“It's okay.” Allison replied quietly. “I'm okay...” Allison's head sagged slightly, fingers curling into the hem of Lydia's shirt, breathing heavily. 

“Woah, Allison. No. Stay awake.”

“You're so bossy Red...”  
  
“Don't you dare nickname me now. Not now, please.”

"Lyds...”

“Come on.” Lydia pulled on Allison's arms, the girls body was almost limp as she struggled to get the girl to her feet. She slung Allison's arm over her shoulder. “I'm going to get you out of here.”  
  
“It's okay Lydia.” Allison muttered, “You did well, it's okay if you don't break it”

“Don't you dare.” Lydia replied. “I'm not giving up on this. Don't give up on me.”

Lydia dragged Allison over the thick roots, knowing that they're close.

“Come on Allison, we're nearly here. Stay with me.”

“I'm here.” Allison replied, her head lolled slightly. "He got me in the ribs, Lydia..."   
  
Lydia bit on her lip to stop from crying, a scalpel could easily puncture her lung, the longer they spent there the more likely it was that Allison could bleed out in the forest. 

Lydia dragged Allison into the clearing, setting her down against the stump and staring at the knife in her hand. With her free hand, Lydia cupped Allison's jaw and guided her head up.

“You can't die. You're my forever, remember?”  
  
Allison smiled. “Forever.”

“Good.” Lydia leant in to kiss her. “Our story isn't going to end here.”

“You can break this. You know you can.”

“I don't know how Allison, I... I thought Deaton would tell me the fail safe... He didn't create the curse.”

“Then who did?” Allison seemed a little more conscious right now, eyes more focused on Lydia.

“I don't know!”

“Think, Lydia. You can do it.”

“The knife belonged to a fae, who gave it to my grandmother. Deaton and Talia stole it and Deaton and Claudia used it in the curse they recreated.”

Allison reached out and cupped Lydia's face with one hand. “What would your grandmother do? Lydia, you're great already. Your grandmother must have been the greatest spark in town, there would be nobody who could compare to her.” 

Lydia sat back on her heels and studied Allison carefully. Her grandmother _was_ the best spark, Deaton had said that he and Claudia weren't skilled enough together to complete the curse together...

“It was my grandmother!” Lydia exclaimed, “She created it!”

“But why?”

“I don't know.” Lydia replied. “But it must have been, that's the only explanation.”

“Lydia... I'm bleeding on the tree...”

Lydia looked down at the roots of the stump.

“They've tasted my blood.” Allison said. “It won't stop.”

“Unless I break the curse.”

Allison laughed. “Unless you break the curse.” She lifted her head to look at Lydia. “What would your grandmother set as the fail safe?”

“I don't know...”

“What would _you_ do?”

“I would...” Lydia looked at the knife again, her gaze slid over to the stump of its own accord. “Oh, oh she was brilliant.”

Lydia leant forward to press a kiss to Allison's lips before she stood up and walked over to the stump, knife gripped in her hand.

“What are you doing?” Allison asked.

“Allison... If this goes wrong... I love you, okay?”

“Lydia?” Allison forced herself to turn just as Lydia raised the knife above her head. “Lydia, no!”

She flung herself towards Lydia as she brought the knife down, the metal piercing the centre of the stump.  
The pulse of energy that erupted from the stump should have knocked her from her feet, hell, Lydia is pretty sure that she should be unconscious or dead right now, she supposes that nothing good can come from stabbing the source of an entire towns magic. It feels like she's trapped in a wall of sound, the eye of a storm as everything around her falls to pieces and Lydia forces herself to open her eyes, only to lock onto Allison's own panicked expression, the girls hands gripping onto Lydia's and holding them against the knife, anchoring her to the spot. It's a strain to keep her eyes open, there's too much happening around them, too much sound, too much energy.  
It's overwhelming.  
She feels lips press against her own and everything went quiet.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You owe me twenty dollars.” A smug voice called.

 

Lydia opens her eyes slowly, face pressed into the dirt. Her muscles screamed in protest as she pressed her hand against the ground, fighting through the senses to force herself to roll over onto her back, taking a long gasp.  
She wasn't dead, she was still breathing.  
  
Allison.

“Allison?” Lydia sat up, grimacing at the throbbing in her head and the burning through her veins.

Lydia's fingers found the stump, the overwhelming pulse she had felt all that time ago was now a steady thrum, feeling more like an extension of herself rather than an opposing force. The knife was still fixed firmly in the spot where Lydia had left it, she thinks that she can see vines beginning to wrap around it, Lydia is frozen as she watches the knife get pulled back into the stump until it was gone, leaving only vines in it's place. Lydia stared in awe, pressing a hand to the side of her head in an attempt to ease the pounding.  
  
"That... Was intense." She said quietly, she frowned after a few moments. "Allison?"  
  
She turned and scanned the forest floor, she eventually spotted Allison lying on her side a foot away from her.  
  
"Allison!"   
  
Lydia remembered the kiss, Allison's hands wrapped around her own.  
Allison had anchored her, stopped the magic from overwhelming her.  
Lydia crawled over to Allison, roots and branches digging into her knees, she pushed Allison onto her back, the girls head lolled, eyes closed. 

“Now is not the time to die, Allison.” Lydia breathed. She leant close and let her cheek hover above Allison's mouth, she felt a light breath against her skin and sighed in relief.  

Pressing one hand against the worst of Allison's injuries, a deep looking puncture to her left side, the material clinging to her skin and soaked with blood, the blood coated her fingers and Lydia wished she had had something to tie around it, to stop the bleeding.  
  
"Come on Alli, wake up,  _please._ "  
  
Lydia cupped the girls jaw, smearing blood across her skin and willing Allison to wake up, to just wake up, dammit.  
Allison's body went tense, eyes opening and taking in a harsh breath followed by another, too much, too fast. Hand scrabbling to hold onto Lydia's wrist. Eyes looking desperately at Lydia.  
She was panicking.  
Lydia had read about panic attacks, she knew what her options were in a situation like this.

She made what she hoped was a soothing sound, stroking Allison's cheek before guiding her up into a kiss. Allison went still under her, rapid breathing halting. Lydia counted slowly in her head before she pulled back, watching Allison's stunned expression for a few moments and feeling Allison's grip on her wrist relaxing.  
  
"You're okay, shit,  _shit,_ you're okay..."  
  
"Allison." Lydia held her cheeks in her hand. "Breathe, slow down, I'm okay."  
  
Allison still seems to be shaking, but she nods and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Lydia moved to press her hand back to Allison's ribs, it was only a matter of time before blood loss really began to set in.   
  
“What happened, what did you-”

Lydia cut her off with a shake of her head. “I... Stabbed the source of the towns magic with a fae's knife.” She pulled Allison more securely onto her lap, holding her as close as she can. “I don't know if I broke the curse.” She added. Allison turned to press her forehead to Lydia's shoulder.

“It's okay. You tried. You did something.”

Lydia frowned uncertainly at the tree stump. Had she just killed the towns only hope of getting magic back?

“Stay awake, okay?” Lydia requested. She needed to stop Allison's bleeding, had to get her somewhere before she succumbed to her injuries.

Allison had been steadily breathing against her neck until this point, but now she squeezes Lydia's wrist, tilting her head up and making her intent clear. Lydia complied, leaning down to kiss her again. Allison responded this time, lips moving against her own with ease. 

“You owe me twenty dollars.” A smug voice called.

Lydia broke the kiss, pulling Allison's head towards her chest instinctively, looking up to the edge of the clearing and relaxing when she sees Jackson stood in front of her, dishevelled and covered in dirt, but definitely Jackson.  
  
“...What?” She managed to ask. Jackson grinned.

“True loves kiss.”

Lydia stared at him, Allison didn't move from where Lydia was holding her, breathing steadily, Jackson gestured around him.

“There was a shock wave, ruined my fight with Stilinski, cops showed up and I came running.” He gestured back at them. “And here we are.”

“You fought Stiles?”

“I ditched the cruiser, came in to help and found him.” He looked over his shoulder. “And the cops aren't following me.”

Allison coughed against her chest and was spurned into action.

“Help me carry her.”

“I'm fine Lyds, it's only-”

“Allison, you've been stabbed in the ribs among other injuries.”

“If he had nicked an artery I'd be dead by now.” Allison protested weakly. “I was just stunned by the shock wave.” She braced her hands against Lydia and pulled herself upright, fingers tightening on Lydia's shoulder.  
  
Lydia looked over Allison at Jackson, hoping that he could see her subtle glare, he walked over as Allison stood up and quickly caught her when she stumbled, grimacing at the weight she put on her injured leg.

“I guess that it's time we find out if you've broken the curse, right, Lydia?” Jackson asked.

Lydia got to her feet, Allison moved into her space, resting her head against Lydia's shoulder for a brief moment. Lydia stroked her hand over Allison's back, rubbing soft circles against her back.  
  
“Lets do this.”

Lydia pulled Allison's arm over her shoulder and despite Allison's insistence that she was okay, Jackson did the same on her left side.

“So what happened?” Jackson asked. “How did you do it?”  
  
Lydia laughed a little breathlessly. "Well..."  


  
  
“So what, the knife is trapped in the tree stump?” Jackson frowned.

“It looked like it.” Lydia replied.

“Returned home at last." Allison mumbled. "I guess that means nobody can use it again?" 

Jackson and Lydia hummed their agreements.

“Okay, another question...” Allison began, Lydia angled her head towards the girl expectantly. “The forest was on fire, because I definitely remember Stiles trying to set us on fire.”

“I can explain that.” Jackson replied. “When your girlfriend over there decided to cause a shock wave, the energy from that extinguished them all.”

“Well shit that's convenient.”

“Talk about a deus ex machnia.” Lydia shrugged.

“I'm pretty sure that's a video game...” Jackson muttered.

“No, it's- you know what, never mind.” Lydia sighed. “Alli, you okay?”

“Never better.” Came the reply. Allison did seem marginally better as they continued to walk, still held back by her obvious injuries and Lydia can tell from her movements that Allison is holding back on the extent of her injuries, not wanting to make Lydia worry. “Don't think one of your band aids is going to be enough though.”

“Just don't die on us, yeah?” Jackson replied. “We've come way to far for you to drop on us now.”  
  
Allison lifted her head just enough for Lydia to see her smile. "I'm not going anywhere."  
  
  
 

  
They were silent as they walked through the parts of the forest affected by the fire, Allison seemed down, hurt at seeing her home be damaged like this but there was a distinct lack of a certain someone that Lydia hadn't had time to think about until now.

“You said you were fighting Stiles?”

“I think I broke his nose... It was awesome.” Jackson grinned.

“And then the shock wave happened and you came to us?”

“Right.”

“Flash light.” Allison mumbled.

“But you said that cops were coming...” Lydia frowned. “So why haven't they come for us?”

“I can explain that.”

Lydia and Jackson both startled so hard that they almost dropped Allison, the girl huffed a little as Lydia looked to the source, only to see Danny stood there pointing a flash light to the ground.

“Danny!” Jackson let go of Allison to run towards the boy, Lydia got her free arm around Allison's waist as Allison stumbled against her, foreheads bumping together.

“Hey.” Lydia breathed.

“Hi.”  
  
Danny cleared his throat pointedly. “Is now really the time?”

“After the day we've had? Definitely.” Allison replied, she brushed her nose against Lydia's before kissing her softly, tongue brushing against Lydia's bottom lip.  
  
“They definitely owe me twenty dollars.” Lydia heard Jackson say to Danny.  
  
Lydia broke the kiss, turning her head to glare at Jackson, Allison tucked her head against Lydia's shoulder.

“You were saying, Danny?”  
  
Danny handed Jackson his flash light and dragged him over to Lydia and Allison. He gestured to Jackson to shine the light over Allison's body while he checked her out, it was the first time Lydia could see her injuries clearly, the fact that by now her shirt was more red than the familiar white Allison had been wearing when they had parted ways almost two days ago, her arms littered in cuts from running through the forest.

“Similar injuries to what Deaton had...”

“It was a scalpel.” Lydia replied.

“Come on, I’ll explain while we walk.” Danny took Jackson's place, taking some of Allison's weight and they began to walk again, this time with Jackson leading the way.

“I called the cops when you guys left, the sheriff came in another cruiser, he brought an ambulance for Deaton, I played him the confession. I mean after that, he didn't really have a choice but to believe us.” Danny gave a small laugh. “I think he was going to arrest me for the whole breaking out and stealing the sheriffs cruiser...”

“Wait what?” Allison lifted her head.

“But then he got another call saying that there was somebody driving the sheriffs cruiser and described as 'behaving erratically'” He trailed off to look pointedly at Jackson who in turn, looked over his shoulder and grinned. “We got here, heard reports of a fire in the forest. The sheriff tried to call off the teams but because of this place-”

“Fucking forest.” Jackson muttered.

“He couldn't... He _wouldn't_ let me go in and then there was this... Wave of energy...”

“That was true loves kiss.”

“It was me stabbing the source of magic.”

“...I did kiss you though.” Allison added.

Jackson laughed triumphantly and Lydia didn't have the heart to correct him, in a way, she supposes, Allison's kiss may have broken it, her kiss anchored Lydia. Technicality. 

“The sheriff got through to the search teams, they found Stiles, he told them to bring them in. Last I saw he was handcuffed and being led to the back of an ambulance to be checked over. I came running as soon as the sheriffs back was turned.”

“Does this mean I’m not going to be arrested for murder?” Allison asked. “I know I killed the wolves and I’ll take my punishment for that as it comes, but I wasn't responsible for the sacrifices or anybody the wolves killed.”

“The new alpha will defend you. He seems less... Evil than Peter.” Lydia replied.

“New alpha?” Jackson frowned.

“When I killed Peter, the alpha spark transferred to the next family member in line, it's how born wolves work.” Allison explained.

“But the sheriff being able to call back the teams, that has to be a good sign, right?” Danny asked.

“We're about to find out.” Lydia said. The four of them came to a stop a few feet away from the clearing.

Allison pulled her arm from Danny. Lydia tightened her hold on Allison, Jackson walked back to stand beside Danny.

“So how do we do this?” He asked. “All at once or what?”

“All together?” Allison suggested. “I wouldn't be here without you all.” She looked to Lydia.

“All together.” Lydia nodded, she let Allison take her arm from around Lydia's shoulder. Allison smiled at her and reached for Lydia's hand to tangle their fingers together.

They approached the edge slowly. All four of them, together walking side by side. Lydia could hear the overwhelming sound of the cops and ambulance crew moving around on the other side of the trees.

“So, are we going to bet on what happens?” Jackson asked.

“What do you mean?” Danny replied, sounding exasperated.

“Like, are we going to bet on if Allison suddenly ages twenty years?”  
  
Allison's grip tightened and she looked to Lydia, panicked.

“Twenty dollars says she stays exactly the way she is.” Lydia replied.

“Fine.” Jackson huffed. “I'm standing by true loves kiss though.”

“I'm aware.” Lydia sighed.

“Can you both stop?” Danny asked. “This is kind of a big deal for Allison.”

Allison laughed, smiling at him as she squeezes Lydia's hand.

“Lets get this over with. I can't feel my leg.” She replied.

And with that, they walked, Lydia closed her eyes, half expecting to hear Allison cry out, to be ripped away like she had before.  
Nothing happened.  
Lydia opened her eyes and span towards Allison, the girl was still looking ahead, eyes wide with awe, Danny and Jackson were standing nearby, watching Allison take in the sight. Allison turned around, just to confirm that they were out, she had left the forest behind her.

“It worked.” Allison said, looking from the forest to the ambulances and back to Lydia. “You did it!”

She threw herself at Lydia, hands grabbing either side of her face and pulling her up into a kiss, noses bumping as she laughed and Lydia laughed too. They had actually done it.  
The curse was broken.  
Allison was free.

“Ow, ow, _fuck._ ” Allison groaned, breaking the kiss, Lydia caught her easily. “Adrenaline is definitely gone now.”

Lydia shoots a look at Jackson and they both leap into action, supporting Allison's weight once more.

“So Allison, what do you want to do first?” Danny asked.

The four of them walked across the dirt towards where several ambulances were parked. Lydia caught a glimpse of Derek Hale, now wrapped in a large blanket and if she squinted, she's fairly sure she can see Erica Reyes and Boyd with another girl with dark hair sat on the back of the ambulance. She definitely didn't miss the nod Derek shot them all. She could see Stiles handcuffed to a hospital stretcher, unconscious and locked eyes with the sheriff, whose eyes widened when he saw Allison.

“I know what I want to do-"  
  
" _Who._ " Jackson said behind a dramatic cough.   
  
Allison narrowed her eyes at him "But I think I need to go to one of those ambulances.” Allison said. “So I’m thinking hospital and shower.”

“And then pizza?” Jackson suggested.

“More like I take Allison home with me.” Lydia replied. “And I'm not letting her out of my sight again for a while.”

Allison smiled at her, tilting her head to kiss her again.

“Whatever you want, Red. I'm yours.”

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hunter and spark.” Lydia shrugged, sitting up and moved to settle in Allison's lap. “Has a good ring to it, don't you think?”

 

The bell rang signalling the end of school and Lydia wasted no time in grabbing her bag and being the first one out of the room.  
It had been a month since that night in the forest and the proof of their actions was evident. There seemed to be a new lease of life in Beacon Hills, brighter, almost.

“Lydia!” Danny called.

Lydia turned to see him and Jackson by his locker, both waving her over.

“You heading out?” He asked.

“That's generally what you do when school finishes.” Lydia replied.

“Lydia. You're so funny.” Jackson deadpanned.

“Have you signed up to any of the classes yet?” Danny asked, elbowing Jackson in the side.

“Not yet, I want to meet the teachers first, make sure they aren't easily corruptible or potential people that are going to end up trying to screw us over in the future.”

“Good call.” Danny nodded. “You going over to Allison's?”

Lydia smiled. “Of course. You guys can come too if you like?”

“Pass.” Jackson waved a hand. “We know you two need your sex times, rain check?”

“Definitely. I'll see you guys Monday.”

“Tell Allison we said hi!” Danny called after her.

“Always do.” Lydia replied, waving a hand.  
 

  
She was stopped by another voice calling her name just before she could open her car door, she turned, surprised to see Erica and Boyd approaching her. After the curse had broken, they had returned, much to the alarm and surprise of literally everybody else. They were the first known werewolves in Beacon Hills since the Hales and their story and new status had flung them to the top of the social ladder along with Lydia, Jackson and Danny (their popularity had only gotten stronger after word of what had happened had gotten out)  
  
It was going to be fun when Allison finally joined them.  
  
“What's wrong?” Lydia asked.

Erica shrugged. “Nothing, where's your hunter?”

“At her apartment.”

Erica hummed. “So she finally got her own place?”

“Jackson's dad is a _really_ good lawyer, she inherited her families money.” Lydia replied. It hadn't been easy, but they had gotten there and it turns out that Allison's family are worth a small fortune, realistically, Allison could just retire right now and live a very comfortable life, but she already knows Allison has no intention of going down that route, she's agitated just from being on bed rest. That, and she's seen Allison donating to various charities on her new laptop.

“We never said thank you.” Boyd spoke up. “For you breaking the curse and Allison not killing us.”

“She never wanted to hurt Isaac, either.” Lydia replied.

“We know.” Erica said. “This is a new start, Derek said so.”

“Did he?”

“He owns the building your girl is living in.” Erica replied, like that explained everything. Lydia laughed under her breath, apparently the Hales have money too.

“He's going to want to talk about truce conditions, but he's going to wait for Allison to be on her feet first, but we're all happy to coexist.” Boyd explained.

“But you didn't get that from us. Cora would kill us if she knew we told you.” Erica winked.

“I'll keep that in mind.” Lydia laughed.

“We won't keep you.” Boyd tugged on the edge of Erica's jacket. “You have places to be.”

Before all of this, Lydia could barely even place Erica's face in her mind, she had never exchanged a word with either her or Boyd and had never met Derek's younger sister so she managed to surprise herself when she didn't take the offer to leave immediately.

“We should all hang out one day.” Lydia suggested. “I mean everybody knows what happened, but they'll never _know...._ you know?”

Erica laughed, throwing her head back. “Nice use of the English language there, Martin.” Her expression softened. “But yeah, that'd be good.”

“Have a good day, Lydia.” Boyd nodded.  
Lydia waved her goodbye and turned back to her car.

  
She kept to the speed limit as best as she could, as much as she was happy for Allison to have her own place, she does really miss having Allison in her bed, either there or trying to be productive around the house because she 'felt guilty' about not doing anything.  
Lydia would proceed to silence her with kisses and remind Allison that she was stabbed five times and was bitten by a dog and that she's earned the bed rest.  
She let herself into Allison's building, walking over to the elevators. When they opened, she took a step back at seeing both the sheriff and Derek walk out.

“Lydia!” The sheriff looked surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Allison.” Lydia replied simply. Apparently today was going to be a day where people insisted on keeping her from seeing her girlfriend, whatever, she could tolerate it and it always helped to know the gossip of the town, a lot was changing and she had set these events in motion.

“Likewise.”

“Is everything okay?” Lydia asked. What she was really asking was 'Do I need to call Jackson's father?'

“Everything is fine. Lydia. Allison isn't facing any charges for what happened during that time in the forest. Derek and Cora gave me a full statement about what happened and in every instance Allison was defending herself.”

“Then why-”

“A list of names, I needed her to look through them, see if there was anybody she recognised.” He hesitated for a moment, glancing at Derek. “She gave me directions, for where she buried people. We're going to give them a real funeral. Even her parents. They'll all be interred into the cemetery.”

Lydia nodded slowly. “Allison will be pleased.”

“Melissa is with her right now.” The sheriff replied. “I wanted to give them some privacy.”

Lydia wanted to ask how Stiles was, all they really knew was that he was in Eichen house, but the dark circles under the sheriffs eyes made her think better of her choice, maybe one day he would talk about it.

“I should go, I have a lot of paperwork to do now.” The sheriff said after a few moments silence.

“Oh, of course.” Lydia stepped to the side to allow him past.

“Stay out of trouble.” He waved.

Lydia looked away from him at Derek, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

“I was going to get groceries.” He said.

“Raw meat not doing it for you now?” Lydia replied.

“We tried but the waiter at the diner looked at us weird.” He said dryly as he began to walk past her, but Lydia could see the hesitation in his movements as he faltered, turning towards her. “Would the hunter object to me visiting her?”

Lydia couldn't help but scoff in response. “Allison would object to being referred to as the hunter.” She said, Lydia chose to omit the part that only she really had the power to call Allison that. “And no, she wouldn't. You and your sister are the only other people alive to know what happened over those twenty years, I think she could really use somebody to talk to.”

“She talks to you.”

“Of course she does. She's my girlfriend. _But_ I wasn't there, not to mention the whole history between your families.” Lydia added. Derek's shoulders tensed for a moment. “Look, I'm going to throw Allison a belated birthday party once we get the all clear...” Lydia frowns, it was completely unfair that Allison was still in the hospital for her first real birthday, but she had showered the girl with kisses, gifts and Danny had baked a spectacular cake (Allison had told her it was the best birthday she had ever had and Lydia honestly wanted to cry a little bit) “You can bring your pack, it'll be fine.”

Derek still looked unsure, but he gave Lydia a small nod. “I should also tell you that we have no intention of being a threat to the town. We were under the control of Peter, he was the alpha, we had to obey.”

“It's in the past.” Lydia replied. “And it's Allison you should tell this to, not me.” She watched Derek glance at the elevator and held a hand up. “But not today, I have plans.”

Derek snorted and turned away from her. “Have fun.”  
 

 

While the elevator takes her up to Allison's floor, she types out a text to Jackson, asking to borrow his house for the party, she wants to make it special for Allison, a chance to meet people from school even if she never wants to hang out with them but she also doesn't want the responsibility of being the hostess, Allison hasn't socialised for twenty years so it's very possible that it would be overwhelming for her. Lydia needs to be able to get Allison out of there if possible.  
She sends the text as the elevator doors open, she slips her phone back into her purse and takes the key for Allison's apartment from her pocket, gripping the cool metal tight in her hands. She can't help but feel apprehensive, the sheriff had told her that Melissa was with Allison and other than a few moments while Allison was in hospital, the two of them haven't interacted since the truth about Scott's death came out but the fact that Melissa is here to check on Allison is definitely a good sign.

Melissa steps out of Allison's apartment and closes the door behind her before she notices Lydia, she turns and greets Lydia with a smile that has the nerves in her stomach ease slightly.

“Lydia, good afternoon.”

“Mrs McCall, how is-”

“She's fine, a little grumpy though, I told her that bed rest requires actually resting in bed as opposed to trying to do pull ups in the door frame and popping some stitches and then not mentioning it until I went to change the bandages two hours later.”  
  
Lydia wants to roll her eyes at that, Allison still insists that she's fine and capable despite the literal medical proof that she isn't.

“I'll have a word with her.” Lydia replied. “She's new to the whole relaxing thing.”

“I can imagine.” Melissa glances back at the door. “I'll leave you both to it-”

“Wait.” Lydia cut her off. “I'm sorry.”

Melissa pauses, looking taken aback. “For what?”

“For not being able to save him, we tried, we really did.”

Melissa nodded solemnly. “I know. Allison has already apologised. None of you are to blame for what happened and you tried to save him.” Melissa takes a shaky breath, her keys jingle as she tightens her hold on them in her right hand. “He wasn't alone, that's all that matters.”  
  
Lydia nods, not entirely trusting her voice, the guilt she feels may never leave her for what happened, but it feels lighter knowing that Stiles and Deaton are both going to pay for it and she'll make sure that Melissa is okay. She knows Allison will probably want to take on that role too though.

“I'll see you both on Monday than.” Melissa said, pulling Lydia from her thoughts.

“You will?” Lydia frowned.

“Allison will be good to go by then, hopefully. But you need to make sure she rests plenty between now and then.”

Lydia nods. “I will.”

“Okay, good.” Melissa replied, she still seemed a little shaky and Lydia isn't expecting it when the woman moves in to hug her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her in. It's such a motherly gesture and it's more than she ever received from her own mother that Lydia can't help but get lost in it. She hugs Melissa back, enjoying the comfort of it until Melissa breaks away. Her eyes look watery and Lydia fights the urge to hug her again.

“I'll see you on Monday then.” Melissa said, voice wavering slightly.  
  
  
Lydia waited until Melissa had gotten into the elevator before she let herself into Allison's apartment, slipping off her heels and dropping her bag as she let the door close behind her.

“Lydia?” Allison calls from the bedroom.

Lydia looks over to the screen divide, the apartments open plan space is incredible but after the short amount of time Allison spent in Lydia's home, the girl grew accustomed to the privacy of having a room to rest in so she had promptly sent the boys to Ikea with a list of things that they needed to make the empty space more homey. It still needed a lot of work done, but Allison liked it and that was all that mattered.  
Lydia walked across the room and around the screen into the bedroom, Allison was in the process of sitting up, looking tiny in the queen sized bed and it's many pillows.

“Hey.” Allison smiled as she spotted Lydia, relaxing back onto her elbows. “How was school?”

“Hey yourself.” Lydia replied, she began to strip herself of her layers of clothing, smiling to herself as she feels Allison's eyes on her the entire time. “The usual, but I ran into Boyd and Erica in the parking lot.” She keeps her underwear on and moves to the closet to grab on of Allison's shirts and pulled it on. She turns to Allison and walks towards the bed.

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine.” Lydia climbed into the bed beside Allison, pulling her down with her.

Allison curled a hand around the back of Lydia's neck to kiss her, thumb rubbing soft circles into the skin there. Allison hums into the kiss, pulling away only to brush their noses together.

“Missed you.” Allison mumbled, shifting so that she was stretched over Lydia. Lydia let her hands skim along Allison's body, pausing to glide ever so softly over the bandaged areas.

“Melissa told me you popped some stitches.” Lydia managed to say, just as Allison was beginning to divert her attention to that spot against her pulse.  
  
Allison pulled back and gave Lydia a sheepish look. “I got bored?”

“Allison...” Lydia sighed, though there was no malice behind it. “You need to rest, Melissa said you're all clear on Monday if you do.”

“But I get so bored.” Allison groaned, rolling off of Lydia and onto her side, wrapping her arms around Lydia's waist and hiding her head against Lydia's neck.

“I'm not going anywhere.” Lydia replied, hands pushing under Allison's shirt. “All weekend, I'm yours.”

Allison chuckled, lips pressing against her pulse. “Yeah?”

“Yep.”

Allison kissed up to Lydia's ear, fingers dipping under her shirt and trailing her fingers softly over Lydia's stomach.

“So... Technically, I’m not breaking any rules as long as I don't leave the bed?” Allison asked.  
  
She didn't give Lydia a chance to reply, instead, she shifted to ease Lydia onto her back and straddle her hips, pulling her shirt over her head. Lydia stared up at her, eyes scanning over her body, memorising each scar, the bandages wrapped around her left shoulder and another around her abdomen. She rests her hands on Allison's hips, mindful of the marks still left behind from her fight with Peter, Allison shifts her weight a little, grimacing at the pressure she put on her injured leg.  
  
“Technically... No.” Lydia replied, hands moving down Allison's thighs, squeezing lightly. “But the winter formal is coming up soon and I need you well enough to dance.”  
For a moment Lydia thinks that she sees genuine fear in Allison's eyes.  
  
“I don't know how to dance.”She admitted.  
  
“Well I'll teach you, I want to show you off to everybody.” Lydia smiled.

She was careful as she pushed on Allison, urging her to move. Allison went willingly, letting Lydia push her down into the pillows, pausing to run her fingers through Allison's hair, she hadn't had a chance to take her to the hairdressers yet though it was definitely on the list of things to do, Allison wanted a change so what better way to do it than a new hairstyle?  
She pulled off her shirt and watched Allison's features light up be she stretches out on top of Allison, pressing their bodies together. Allison makes a small keening sound, wrapping her uninjured leg around Lydia's hips and her arms around her neck, pulling her into a kiss.

“Slowly, Allison.” Lydia says between kisses. “I'm not going anywhere.”  
  
Allison pulls Lydia's bottom lip between her teeth, trying to make the kisses harder, more desperate. Lydia broke this kiss, brushing her nose against Allison's and biting at her jaw.  
  
“Patience.” Lydia tapped Allison on the nose, feeling herself shiver when Allison caught Lydia's finger between her teeth. “We're taking this slow. You're still hurt.”  
  
Allison released her finger, pouting a little. “I like slow.”  
  
“Good.” Slow was always good with Allison, she liked the slow build of it all, the sound of Allison's steadily growing gasps and moans.  
  
Yeah, slow was good.  
  
Lydia slipped a hand behind her to stroke a hand along the inside of Allison's thigh, feeling how her muscles tense under her touch.  
  
“But that isn't to say I can't wait to introduce you to the wonders of shower sex.”  
  
Allison's eyes darkened considerably. “I have an entire apartment just waiting to be christened.”  
  
Lydia leant down to bite at Allison's jaw. “Soon, Allison.”  
  
  


  
Lydia set a mug down on Allison's side of the bed. Lydia takes a sip of her own coffee before she set it down and slipped back into bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl beside her. Allison shuffles closer, still peacefully asleep. Lydia considered maybe doing homework, reading one of the books she had brought over to Allison's apartment (When she looks around, she can't help but notice that her belongings can be found everywhere, she's slowly moving all of her stuff into the apartment and it feels more like home than her own ever did.  
She props herself on one elbow and stares down at the girl studying Allison's serene expression, she spots the scar on Allison's jaw, finally healed. Lydia touches her fingers to the mark, the slightly raised skin of it. Allison stirs, eyes opening slowly and pressing into the touch before she can become fully aware of it.  
  
“Red?”  
  
“Three months.” Lydia said. “That's how long it's been.”  
  
Allison blinked, looking considerably more awake as she stares up at Lydia, reaching to hold the hand that Lydia had been using to trace her jaw and squeezing her fingers.  
“So much has changed, three months ago I got lost in a forest and met this amazing girl who showed me a world that I thought could never exist here again.”  
  
Allison continued to stare up at her. “You brought me here, Lydia. You saved my life, you broke the curse and brought magic back to the town.”  
  
Lydia stroked her thumb over Allison's lower lip, leaning in to kiss her gently. Allison was always more than vocal in reminding Lydia just how much she's done, how much has changed because of her but she couldn't help but frown as she pulled away.  
  
“I still have so many questions though.”  
  
Allison sat up, spotting the coffee on her table and reaches for it, taking a small sip and setting it back down. She reached down to the floor and picked up her shirt to pull it back over her head. “Like what?” Allison asked, leaning back against the headboard.  
  
Lydia flopped down onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, content in the silence between them.  
  
“My grandmother knew a fae, that's how she got the knife.”  
  
She slants her eyes sideways to look at Allison. Lydia watches Allison's thoughtful expression.  
  
“Faes don't live in our realm.” Allison replied.   
  
“Are you saying that the fae could still be alive?” Lydia asked.  
  
“It's possible.” Allison shrugged. “But my family hunted wolves, not faes. So I only have a basic knowledge of them.”

“Are there families that hunted fae?”  
  
Allison pursed her lips and nodded. “For every species there's a family of hunters ready to hunt them.” There was a moment of hesitation. “That isn't limited to sparks, either.” She added. "They're blinded by ignorance." Allison sighed. "I don't know if those families are still active but I want to find out. I want to stop them from killing innocents. We can't let a repeat of this happen."  
  
Lydia nodded slowly “I want to find the fae, Allison. I want to know more. I need to know why my grandmother created that curse.”  
  
“Then that's what we'll do. We'll look. We'll track down the families, we'll find the fae and get answers.” Allison replied, expression determined. “You still don't know the circumstances that led to your grandmothers death, why she was given that knife or why you were able to use it too.” Allison reached over to take Lydia's hand. “So we'll figure it all out.”  
  
“Danny and Jackson will be pleased.” Lydia laughed. “We could be like a magical version of Veronica Mars.”  
  
“And what, open our own little agency?”  
  
“Hunter and spark.” Lydia shrugged, sitting up and moved to settle in Allison's lap. “Has a good ring to it, don't you think?” She cupped Allison's face in her hands, thumb brushing over Allison's jaw.  
  
“I like the sound of that.” Allison replied “Wherever you go, I'll follow you Red.”  
  
Lydia brought Allison's face towards her, pressing their lips together, Allison kissed her back slowly, arms wrapping around her waist and bringing her in closer.  
  
“You know, you never finished your story.” Lydia whispered against her lips.

“I didn't?”  
  
Lydia pulled back slightly, enough to see Allison clearly. “No, you left the story at the hunter waiting for Red to return.”  
  
“Red always came back, even when she shouldn't have. Even when things seemed hopeless and the hunter was hurt, Red saved her life with what her loyal friend would insist was true loves kiss.”  
  
Lydia laughed, pressing their foreheads together. “Red brought the hunter out from the forest and brought her home to take care of her and made sure that she could keep her forever.”  
  
“Forever.” Allison echoed, kissing her again.  
  
“How does it end, Allison?”  
  
Allison kissed her again, smiling against her lips. “I guess we're going to have to find out for ourselves.”  
  
“Together?” Lydia asked.  
  
Allison smiled and brushed their noses together.  
  
“Hunter and Spark. Together.”  
  
“Forever?”  
  
“Yeah Lydia.” Allison replied, kissing her once more. “Forever.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could I have written a cheesier ending?  
> ....Probably.  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
